A Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) investigation into a BC Ferries vessel hitting a docked boat at Snug Cove on Bowen Island has revealed more details about what happened.
A video taken on Feb. 2 around 7:30 a.m. shows the Queen of Capilano vessel departing from Bowen Island and colliding with a moored boat at the Bowen Island Marina shortly after setting sail.
The boat subsequently slammed into the dock, causing significant damage to the structure. The ferry was taken out of service later in the morning and held at Horseshoe Bay until the evening.
In an email on Feb. 20, a TSB spokesperson said the incident has been classified as a "class 5 occurrence." That's where the incident is not subject to a comprehensive investigation followed by an investigation report. However, these types of occurrences "are recorded in suitable scope for possible future safety analysis, statistical reporting, or archival purposes," the statement said.
A summary of the incident stated the "accident collision" caused a minor degree of damage.
There were 34 people on the ferry at the time.
“The passenger ferry ... reported touching the wooden dock structure and docked pleasure craft, while departing the ferry terminal at Snug Cove, Bowen Island, B.C. due to high wind gusts and issues with the control of the azimuth thrusters,” said the summary.
Azimuth thrusters contain propellers that provide steering and rotation on ships and other vessels.
After reproducing the azimuth control issue during a later departure from Snug Cove, the Queen of Capilano returned to Horseshoe Bay where the joysticks were replaced and successful sea trials were conducted.
BC Ferries said its internal investigation is still ongoing "to understand the contributing factors and the role that weather and mechanical issues may have played.”
"As always, we will continue to cooperate with TSB and other involved parties to take forward any learnings," said senior communications advisor Shiryn Sayani.
Boat damage
After the boat was hit, the ferry was captured on video leaving and not stopping.
At the time, BC Ferries said: "We are investigating whether this was due to wind conditions, a mechanical issue, or a combination of factors.”
Bowen Island resident Brittany Yu said her classical Grand Banks yacht bore the brunt of the ferry collision.
She viewed the video from the incident and said the impact was quite significant.
The Queen of Capilano’s stern smashed through the boat's cabin, tearing off railings, shattering windows, and crushing the door and its frame.
“We are on our boat a lot in the summer. We sleep on the boat, we do big trips, we spend a ton of time on our boat,” Yu said. "I certainly don’t feel safe in that spot anymore, and we’ll be looking into alternative spaces where that’s not a risk factor.”
Response time
In an interview with the Bowen Island Undercurrent back when the incident occurred, Bowen Island Mayor Andrew Leonard did have questions about the timing of the Feb. 2 events.
“The biggest issue for myself was that it took a few hours for BC Ferries to respond directly to that incident, and it seemed to be their response was a result of having reported it,” said Leonard, noting he sent video and photos of the collision to BC Ferries leadership early that morning.
Yu reported the incident as a hit-and-run to RCMP.
“I think it’s quite disappointing that they left the scene,” she said. “Having a ferry run into something is really unsafe, so obviously that has to be taken care of on their end.”
According to the TSB, a class 5 occurrence investigation can, in some cases, result in a safety letter highlighting a safety issue.
"The collected data is entered into the modal database and an extract of the database is published,” said the TSB’s website.
