close
close

Mondor Festival

News with a Local Lens

Barge stuck in the Fraser River near Langley, British Columbia
minsta

Barge stuck in the Fraser River near Langley, British Columbia

Work crews were called to deal with a barge that appeared to be stuck near the bank of the Fraser River in Langley on Saturday morning.

Footage from the scene shared with CTV News shows the vessel listing to one side near Two Bit Bar in Glen Valley Regional Park, just west of Crescent Island.

Water also appeared to be pumped out of the stricken vessel.

A second barge was docked alongside the first, and a crane could be seen moving the load of sand or gravel from one vessel to another.

Both barges are branded “Ledcor Group” on the side. CTV News has contacted the company to ask for more information about what happened. This story will be updated if a response is received.

The Canadian Coast Guard told CTV News that the location was outside its “vessel traffic zone” and that it had not received any reports of people requesting assistance for a barge that was running or was stuck.

A local fisherman told CTV News he was in the area Friday evening and saw the apparently stranded vessel. He said it appeared the barge was stuck “pretty well” and would be there for a while.

Both vessels were quite close to shore and did not appear to be impacting navigation on the river.

The fisherman who spoke to CTV News said he hopes the stricken barge does not suffer the same fate as the one that ran aground in Vancouver’s English Bay during the 2021 atmospheric river that caused flooding and landslides throughout the province.

This ship was stranded near Sunset Beach for about a year, quickly becoming a popular destination for selfie seekers and the site of at least one marriage proposal.

Merchandise including T-shirts and a Lego set were created and sold. However, people who lived in the area also complained that it was an eyesore that took far too long to remove.

The English Bay barge was eventually cut up and transported into pieces, with completion of work at the end of 2022.