A Selkirk steel and welding firm, sued by the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corp. over an explosion and fire on a barge it was fixing, is pointing the finger back at the Crown corporation in its response to the lawsuit.
The marketing corporation — which buys fish from remote areas across the Prairies, including many Lake Winnipeg communities, then processes it and sells it — filed a lawsuit in the Court of King’s Bench against Selkirk Machine Works Ltd. in April, seeking $5.7 million in damages over a 2022 explosion and fire on a boat the corporation uses on Lake Winnipeg.
The corporation alleged that the firm’s employees caused the May 6, 2022 explosion as they worked on steel plates adjacent to an empty diesel tank on the MV Poplar River, damaging the barge and causing a fuel leak, while conducting winter maintenance at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans harbour in Hnausa, about 120 kilometres north of Winnipeg.
The vessel was out of commission for about a year. No one was seriously injured and the corporation said the explosion also damaged a workshop it owned.
Selkirk Steel Works, in a statement of defence filed in August that asks the court to dismiss the lawsuit with costs in its favour, instead alleged the marketing corporation negligently gave its employees false and inaccurate information, causing the incident.
“The plaintiff’s representative on site represented to the defendant that hot work on the interior wall surface, such as welding, was safe to perform as there was a two-foot void or cavity between the far side of the interior wall… and an internal cargo diesel tank,” read the defence papers.
“Had the representation been correct, the incident would not have occurred from the defendant’s work.”
The steel firm’s court filing also claims the marketing corporation’s representative told them that welding was safe, as the corporation had emptied, cleaned and vented the diesel tank.
But instead, according to the defence filing, the diesel tank contained residual fuel or fumes, and part of the wall that was to be welded formed the wall of the diesel tank. There was no gap between the two, with heat from the welding work transferred directly to the fuel tank, the defence alleges.
“The defendant’s work was performed competently and properly and would not have resulted in loss or damage had the plaintiff’s representations been accurate,” reads the statement of defence.
The steel firm said the ship repair contract between the two either expressly said or implied that the marketing corporation would properly prepare the vessel for welding work, including by dealing with the fuel tanks, assign a representative with knowledge of the vessel to oversee the work and provide accurate information, among other points.
“The defendant says that its employees were knowledgeable and competent in their trades and they took reasonable care, followed industry standards and practices and acted in a good and workmanlike manner,” reads the court filing.
The defence also alleges the marketing corporation has exaggerated its losses and damages, for which it is ultimately liable.
Further, the defence argues, because the losses are related to a ship, the claim is subject to the limitation of liability of the Marine Liability Act.
Erik Pindera
Reporter
Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Erik.
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