Communiqués

TSB # M07/2006

THE TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD OF CANADA TO UNDERTAKE A DIVE OPERATION ON THE BC FERRIES VESSEL QUEEN OF THE NORTH

(Gatineau, Quebec, April 21, 2006) - The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) will undertake a dive operation on the sunken Queen of the North. The operation will begin during the second week of May 2006 for a period of approximately seven days, weather permitting.

The dive operation will focus on the wheelhouse of the vessel. TSB investigators hope to recover information relative to the vessel's movements before the grounding. The dive will also document the steering selector system and other relevant equipment in the wheelhouse.

The TSB will work with the Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility (CSSF) in Sidney, British Columbia, who will operate its ROPOS (remotely operated platform for ocean science) for the dive.

In the early morning hours of March 22, 2006, the BC Ferries vessel Queen of the North, while in transit between Prince Rupert and Port Hardy, British Columbia, struck Gil Island, sustaining damage that resulted in its sinking approximately an hour later. Passengers and crew were evacuated to the nearby village of Hartley Bay. Of the 101 passengers and crew, 99 have been accounted for. Two passengers are missing and presumed dead.

The TSB is an independent agency that investigates marine, pipeline, railway and aviation transportation occurrences. Its sole aim is the advancement of transportation safety. It is not the function of the Board to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability.

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