I was talking to a diver from Vancouver recently who told me his group were prevented from boarding BC Ferries because they were tranporting a prohibited item, NITROX! I couldn't believe my ears so I placed a couple of calls and was informed enriched air or nitrox is indeed a prohibited item on BC Ferries. This policy has been in place since 2006 and has been recently emphasised by a safety bulletin published by BCFC. I called Transport Canada and the person I spoke to there did verify that yes enriched air came under a different UN number than compressed air but since both compressed air and oxygen are allowed by BCFC he could not see why nitrox would be banned. He is going to contact them for clarification and promised to get back to me. In the mean time if you are declaring your scuba tanks when traveling on the ferry system (and you should) you should know:
UN# 1002 compressed air is permitted
UN# 1072 compressed oxygen is permitted
UN# 3156 enriched air nitrox is not permitted
I suggest anyone using this means of transport remove those big bumper sticker nitrox bands and either declare your tanks as compressed air or oxygen if you feel the mixture is high enough to warrant it.
The Transport Canada rep I spoke with was not aware of any accidents regarding nitrox and did not see the problem. He is the senior marine inspector and has the authority to get the policy changed and has promised to look into ammending the ruling.
I will keep you posted.
UN# 1002 compressed air is permitted
UN# 1072 compressed oxygen is permitted
UN# 3156 enriched air nitrox is not permitted
I suggest anyone using this means of transport remove those big bumper sticker nitrox bands and either declare your tanks as compressed air or oxygen if you feel the mixture is high enough to warrant it.
The Transport Canada rep I spoke with was not aware of any accidents regarding nitrox and did not see the problem. He is the senior marine inspector and has the authority to get the policy changed and has promised to look into ammending the ruling.
I will keep you posted.