I'm going to ask my colleague Mr. Pelletier to also weigh in on this because of this operational background. The Simushir event put into motion a lot of different response activities, and I think that's important to note.
First, that event actually started as a search and rescue event because the lives onboard the vessel were at risk, and we executed a search and rescue operation. We were on standby, ready to execute as needed in that circumstance, and as you may know, the master was eventually extracted from the vessel.
In terms of the environmental side, the repairs on the ship couldn't be effected in the original timeframe—we had originally been told that it would take three and a half hours to effect the repairs on the ship and get it under way. Even before that, actually, we had started to look at what would be required from an environmental side. We started to execute the joint plan that we have with the U.S. When it comes to marine incidents, as you are likely aware, there's a lot of international cooperation, and Canada has partnerships with other countries. Given the location of the event, the U.S. was on standby both on the SAR side, the search and rescue side, and on the environmental side. For example, we started to work with the province, the first nation, and the industry to make sure that the right resources were being brought to bear on the situation.
On the tow situation itself, it should be noted that the Canadian Coast Guard might be thought of as a tow of last resort. It's not one of our principal activities. In this case we started to work immediately with industry to identify what capacity was available and to deploy that capacity. Nevertheless, we also dispatched our own vessels, and the Gordon Reid arrived first and then the Sir Wilfrid Laurier after that. It's not an uncommon event for a tow line to part. I realize that in other circumstances that's just not part of our thinking, but in vessel circumstances, particularly given the sea state at the time, that in and of itself didn't cause us undue concern. We redoubled our efforts to re-engage the vessel by towing and eventually, as you know, we were able to create enough stability in the situation that the Barbara Foss arrived and executed the principal tow.
The parting of the lines didn't cause us undue concern. We undertake an after-action review in every circumstance of that nature. Certainly we'll be looking at that to ask ourselves if there was anything unusual. In fact, we think it was the good work of the Gordon Reid that created stability in that situation. The Gordon Reid and the Sir Wilfrid Laurier actually stood by for a period of hours because there was enough stability and the direction and movement of the wind and waves weren't pushing the ship to shore, as you alluded to.
There was a combination of factors, there's no question. Actions were taken immediately, and eventually those actions addressed the situation.