Jamie’s Whaling Station, the company whose tour boat sank near Tofino, B.C. on Sunday, killing at least five people, has had accidents in the area before.
In both cases, Canada’s Transport Safety Board noted driver error. In the most recent accident, two people died.
The 65-foot cruiser vessel sank just before 5 p.m. PT near Plover Reefs, west of Vargas Island.
READ MORE: First Nations among rescuers credited with saving lives after boat sinks off B.C. coast
There were 27 people on board; at least five of them are confirmed dead, with many others missing.
In March, 1998, a Jamie’s Whaling Station boat “Ocean Thunder” was swamped in the same area near Plover Reefs.
Get breaking National news
The boat’s operator and one passenger died.
“The operator did not fully appreciate the conditions the boat would meet at the time of the accident in the turbulent waters in the vicinity of reefs,” a Transport Safety Board report reads.
The vessel also lacked effective emergency communication equipment.
It did have coverall personal flotation devices. They didn’t keep people alive in this instance — in one case, a passenger who couldn’t swim panicked in the cold water; the operator doesn’t appear to’ve been wearing his properly.
The report also notes that whale-watching vessels like the Ocean Thunder, and the Leviathan II that sank on Sunday, doesn’t require personal flotation devices that keep people both warm and afloat.
“The Board is concerned that, because the current regulations do not reflect the need for thermal protection, mariners and passengers on small vessels and small fishing vessels may be exposed to undue risk of hypothermia,” the report reads.
“The Board will continue to monitor the life-saving carriage requirements with a view to ensuring that these take into consideration both flotation and thermal protection capabilities, and thereby provide mariners and passengers a reasonable chance of survival in cold Canadian waters.”
That regulation still hasn’t changed: The passengers on this week’s fatal capsize didn’t have full-body, thermally protected life jackets.
Two years earlier, in August 1996, the company’s boat “Sharp Point” ran aground on Flores Island while en route to pick up passengers.
“The operator apparently fell asleep,” the report reads.
He suffered multiple head injuries and was airlifted to hospital in Tofino.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.