Investigation into deadly B.C. boat incident released by TSB

Wednesday, June 14, 2017, 4:10 PM - More than a year and a half after the tragic sinking of a whale-watching boat off the coast of Tofino, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada has released a final report on its investigation.

The report made three recommendations, the CBC reports: the first, that tour boat companies need to develop better safety practices, including the identification of hazardous waves.

In addition, it recommends that Canadian passenger vessel operators adopt stronger risk-management procedures to identify and strategize ahead of hazardous encounters. Its third recommendation requires all commercial passenger vessels in operation beyond "sheltered water" to deploy emergency locator devices to automatically activate in a capsizing accident.

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Three crew members and 24 passengers were on board when the Leviathan II, operated by Jamie's Whaling Station and Adventure Centre, sank off the western shore of Vancouver Island on Oct. 23, 2015.

Five British nationals and one Australian were killed.

All of the known victims were not wearing life jackets when they were found, according to the B.C. Coroners Service. Life jackets or flotation devices are not required to be worn aboard ships the size of the MV Leviathan II, which measured 19 metres long.

In late October of 2015 it was determined that the deadly incident was likely the result of an imbalance of weight aboard the vessel when it was struck by a wave.

Most of the passengers and crew were gathered on one side of the boat's top deck when it capsized, making it more prone to roll over when a large wave struck, according to the Transportation Safety Board.

"This would have raised the centre of gravity, affecting the vessel's stability," Marc-André Poisson, the TSB's director of marine investigations said at a news conference in Tofino. 

Local fishermen Joe Martin told CBC back in October 2015 that the area where the incident occurred is difficult to navigate.

"You have the ocean currents running by the coast here, and the tides running out. Also the tide from the inlet is running out, and it all kind of meets up in that place and it makes it really rough," he said.

Last year owner of Jamie's Whaling Station Jamie Bray described the event as an "act of God" that could not have been reasonably predicted, The Canadian Press reports.

The TSB is an independent agency that investigates marine, pipeline, railway and aviation transportation occurrences, according to Transportation Safety Board of Canada's website. It's not the function of the board to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability.

Maritime lawyer Tom Hawkins who is representing some of the survivors and family members of the deceased told The Canadian Press that his clients have had a hard time waiting for answers.

"No one should underestimate how traumatic this has been for the families, and particularly the surviving passengers," he told the news agency. "It was a very, very touch-and-go event, as you can imagine, with people having perished right in their vicinity. They were basically struggling to survive themselves."

With files from Daksha Rangan.

SOURCE: The Canadian Press