A group opposed to oil tankers navigating the waters around Vancouver is organizing a flotilla of boats to protest what they say is a dangerous way to move oil.

No Tanks! is not advocating civil disobedience on the water Oct. 17 but co-founder Bill Gannon acknowledged that he won't be able to control all protesters.

"We're not responsible for what our members do but I'd be surprised if any tankers show up," Gannon said by telephone from his accountant's office overlooking Coal Harbour. "I'd say they'd lay low, if they were smart."

Gannon, who was Greenpeace's founding accountant, didn't have a count of boats to be involved but noted that No Tanks! has a mailing list of more than 600 members.

The group, which includes Rex Weyler, former publisher and editor of the original Greenpeace Chronicles newspaper, and fisherman Ron Fowler of the Pacific Salmon Commission, is waiting until Oct. 17 to protest because the fishing season continues until then.

Gannon said their plans include mooring a barge off English Bay that will feature local musicians. The barge will likely be the gathering point before the flotilla heads off around Stanley Park.

"I shouldn't give away the tour but we'll be coming around under the Lions Gate Bridge and ending up there," said Gannon, who anticipates kayaks, fish boats and yachts to join the flotilla.

At issue for Gannon and his group is the increase in tanker traffic in and out of Burrard Inlet. Traffic more than doubled from 28 in 2004 to 70 last year.

That number is expected to rise with the increasing reliance of the United States on Alberta oil, which is funnelled through the Trans-Mountain pipeline to a Burnaby terminal.

Interviews conducted with various marine industry leaders over the past two months and research conducted in the city's archives, did not reveal any oil tanker spills in Vancouver waters. "It's just a matter of time," Gannon said of an oil spill. "It's inevitable. It's going to happen sooner or later."

Chris Badger, chief operating officer of Port Metro Vancouver, told a city council hearing into tanker traffic in July that the United States looked to Canada for its oil after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in America. At the meeting, Badger said all crude oil exports through Port Metro Vancouver since 2004 have been for U.S. customers. California is usually the destination for the tankers because there is no pipeline in Canada.

Gannon said he spoke to the director of engineering for Kinder Morgan's Burnaby terminal, which handles the crude oil shipped from Alberta, and suggested a pipeline be built to California. "He told me they were in the pipeline business, so of course they'd be interested," he said. "We should keep the oil on the continent. Oil and water don't mix."

Badger said Gannon contacted him about the protest and isn't anticipating any disruptions to shipping that day. Badger said the Port's harbour master's office is working with Gannon to ensure the protest is done in "a safe manner."

"We have events in the harbour all the time, so our job is to work with the proponents and to make sure whatever they want to do is carried out safely and with due regard to the other vessels navigating in the area," Badger said.