Sound familiar? Coast guard vessels scramble to prevent barge grounding at Vancouver's Sunset Beach

An empty barge that broke loose from its moorings in Vancouver on Sunday nearly ended up grounded on a city beach, the Canadian Coast Guard says, in a near-repeat of an incident almost two years ago to the day.

The coast guard said in a statement that the blue barge, with the wording Ralmax on its side, began drifting away from where it was docked in English Bay around noon PT and moved slowly toward Sunset Beach — where a barge ended up grounded in November 2021.

Two vessels from the nearby coast guard station motored over to the barge to try to hold it in place until a tugboat could assist, the coast guard said. One of the vessels secured itself to the barge, while the second pushed the barge from its stern.

A commercial tugboat arrived about 30 minutes later, hooked onto the barge, towed it away and moored it to another buoy in Vancouver Harbour, the statement said.

The City of Vancouver said it was aware of the incident, but the coast guard led the response.

The close call on Sunday echoed the events of Nov. 15, 2021, when a barge washed ashore at Sunset Beach. Nicknamed "Barge on the Beach," it became a temporary local attraction and remained lodged there for a year until it was dissembled and removed.

The 'Barge on the Beach,' which became grounded on Sunset Beach, pictured in December 2021. (Jon Azpiri/CBC)

CBC News has contacted Ralmax Group of Companies in Victoria for comment about Sunday's incident.