Crude oil in Burrard Inlet Risk Assessment May, 2010

4. Assess the vulnerability of critical assets to specific threats

• A tanker rudder malfunction could cause a tanker to collide with the narrow Railway Bridge, slicing the tanker open.

• In a storm, a cable pulling a barge could malfunction, causing the barge to float freely into the side of a tanker (as has happened elsewhere). Strong winds could push a tanker into a bridge, another vessel, or the shallow mudflats.

• Normal busy traffic in Georgia Strait could lead to a collision, and in storm conditions, this risk increases.