RCMP takes over search for missing ferry couple

[Sher]

RCMP takes over search for missing ferry couple
CTV.ca News Staff

The RCMP has taken over the search for two missing people who were reportedly aboard a ferry that sank off the northern B.C. coast early Wednesday.

The Canadian Coast Guard called off its search for Shirley Rossette and Gerald Foisey Wednesday evening, saying too much time had elapsed for them to have survived in the icy Pacific waters.

Rossette and Foisey have not been officially accounted for since the 'Queen of the North' struck a rock and sank in choppy waters near Gil Island in Wright Sound.

The RCMP began treating their disappearance as a missing persons case late Wednesday afternoon.

George Foisey, Gerald's brother, told CTV's Canada AM that his family had heard nothing from the couple since he last saw them Tuesday.

"I drove them to the ferry," he said from Prince Rupert Thursday. "We haven't heard from them at all after that. It's not like them at all."

BC Ferries said the two, of 100 Mile House, B.C., were not among the 99 passengers and crew who were rescued after the ferry went down 135 kilometres south of Prince Rupert.

But a spokesman for the company also said there were unconfirmed reports from passengers that the couple were seen in the aboriginal community of Hartley Bay -- where those aboard the ferry were taken after it sank.

There is speculation the couple may have attempted to make their own way back to Prince Rupert.

BC Ferries reported 99 passengers and crew members were rescued after the 'Queen of the North' ran aground at 12:43 a.m. local time (3:43 a.m. ET). The vessel sank within an hour.

The 125-metre-long vessel was making the 450-kilometre overnight journey south to Port Hardy from Prince Rupert, through B.C.'s coastal Inside Passage.

It left Prince Rupert at about 8 p.m. PST on Tuesday and was about five hours into the trip when the accident happened.


Seas were reported to be choppy and winds were blowing at about 75 kilometres per hour.

After a distress call went out, many of the passengers were snatched from their lifeboats by local fishermen and taken to Hartley Bay, while others were ferried there by speedboats dispatched by the community.

Others were hauled onto the 'Sir Wilfrid Laurier,' the coast guard icebreaker which was one of the first rescue vessels on the scene.

Eleven passengers, including three crew members with minor injuries, were taken to Prince Rupert by helicopter.

The remaining passengers and crew made their way from Hartley Bay to Prince Rupert onboard the 'Sir Wilfrid Laurier'.

BC Ferries president David Hahn wouldn't speculate on what caused the accident, but he did admit the investigation seemed to be centred on why the vessel was off course.

"It was clearly off course," he told reporters late Wednesday. "There's no other way to look at it. The question is, how did it get to be where it was?"

John Cottreau, of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, told Canada AM Thursday that his team of investigators were going to be interviewing all of the crew.

"We're going to be checking to see what happened. We're going to take the time we need to do a thorough investigation," he said.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Ferry Operators Association sought to reassure Canadians that the ferry transportation industry is "extremely safe."

"Canadian ferry operators are amongst the best, if not the best in the world," the CFOA said in a written statement Wednesday.

"Accidents occur in every industry. How we respond to these accidents is vitally important. … The crew's response to today's incident speaks volumes."

[Sher]

Couple missing after B.C. ferry sank believed dead
CTV.ca News Staff

Two passengers missing after a ferry sank off B.C.'s northern coast are now believed to have perished in the disaster.

A day after the initial relief that all passengers aboard were safely rescued came the grim realization that Shirley Rosette and Gerald Foisy could not be accounted for.

On Thursday, B.C. Ferries president David Hahn said officials now have to consider that the couple from 100 Mile House died in the accident.

"It's more looking for bodies at this point," Hahn said Thursday.

"The ship settled at around 1,400 feet, so I think retrieval of the bodies is going to be almost impossible at this point and salvage of the ship, that would be an issue going forward.

"It just doesn't look good."

The Queen of the North was making the 450-kilometre overnight journey south to Port Hardy from Prince Rupert, through B.C.'s coastal Inside Passage, when it struck a rock and sank in choppy waters near Gil Island in Wright Sound.

The couple, who was visiting Foisy's family in Prince Rupert, was apparently bunking in a cabin, but why they didn't get off the boat is a mystery.

Hahn said it's hard to believe Foisy and Rosette slept through the crisis, with the alarms ringing and crewmembers banging on doors.

Passengers said they heard a crash and a grinding noise at about 1 a.m. before sirens went off and they were hurried out of their cabins and into lifeboats.

"The amount of noise and effort, it's pretty hard to imagine somebody couldn't have heard it," Hahn said.

"Did they go through and open each and every cabin door? I don't know the answer to that yet," he said.

Adding to the confusion, a passenger reportedly told police the couple was seen on Hartley Bay during the rescue effort, but a search of the remote aboriginal community by police turned up nothing.

Gerald's brother George Foisy carries the guilt that the couple almost certainly went down with the ship.

"I'm the one that convinced them to take the ferry because it was a beautiful ride," Foisy said.

His anguish was compounded by B.C. Ferries' reluctance to acknowledge the couple didn't get out in time, he said.

The Canadian Coast Guard called off its search for the couple Wednesday evening, saying too much time had elapsed for them to have survived in the icy Pacific waters.

Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said the fact the couple have yet to appear is "obviously deeply troubling but it sounds like hopes are diminishing for that prospect."

"It's a very tragic situation that has all of us feeling pretty shell shocked," Falcon told CTV Newsnet.

Officers continue to talk to crew members, passengers and people in Hartley Bay, Const. Alain Beulieu of Prince Rupert RCMP said Thursday.

"What we're doing right now is checking into all the rumours and unconfirmed reports that we heard yesterday that the people were seen here and there," he said.

Ferry passenger manifests

Exactly how many people were aboard the Queen of the North when it hit a rock and sank Wednesday was unclear for some time. At first, officials said there were 102 passengers and crew on board. Then the number was later changed to 101 and then to 99.

More than 12 hours after the ferry went down, the number of passengers accounted for didn't match the total on the ship's manifest.

"There were at least three or four instances of, if you will, shifting of passengers on board the vessel," said Hahn.

For example, an employee gave his girlfriend a pass, which is against the rules.

In another case, one member of a party of four decided not to travel aboard the ferry. There was also a school group aboard in which one student was substituted for another without changing the name, Hahn said.

Federal Transportation Safety Board spokesman John Cottreau told The Canadian Press that investigators will look at the rules concerning ferry passenger manifests.

"I don't know what they are but the rules will be explored during the course of the investigation," he said, adding he's not sure which level of government has jurisdiction for that.

Investigators will concentrate in particular on how the vessel veered off course.

"We're going to be checking to see what happened. We're going to take the time we need to do a thorough investigation," Cottreau, told CTV's Canada AM Thursday.

"We're going to be taking a look at all aspects of this accident and obviously ship construction is one of them."

Hahn earlier insisted the vessel was seaworthy, but he did concede the vessel was not following its regular route.

"There is a GPS (global positioning system), an automatic pilot, three radars, electronic charting, there was enough electronic information there that one would think this shouldn't happen," he said.

Instead, the ship crashed into a rock, he said.

"The issue with this ship in this particular incident had very little to do with anything other than she was going somewhere around 19 knots and ran aground, ran into an island.

"I don't care whether that was a new ship or an old ship, you don't take a ship at that size (and crash) at 19 knots and not just tear it apart."

Cottreau said divers might be able to retrieve electronic data on board the vessel to gain a clearer picture of the accident.

B.C. Ferries says it does not plan to salvage the ferry, which is leaking diesel fuel.

The Canadian Coast Guard estimates the vessel was carrying around 222,000 litres of diesel fuel and 23,000 litres of lube oil when it sank.

The ferry was also carrying 16 vehicles, which could potentially leak gasoline.

Cottreau said the board will assess the environmental impact of the accident in a report, but declined to say when it would be ready.

Speaking at a news conference in Quebec Thursday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he was "very impressed with the rescue effort, in particular the help showed by local residents in Hartley Bay."

With a report from CTV's Todd Battis

[guy]

Human error raised
Former captain says it's possible in ferry sinking

VICTORIA -- The former captain of the Queen of the North suspects human error is to blame for the B.C. ferry's sinking, basing his view partly on conversations he's had with some of his former colleagues who survived the ordeal.

Lewis Glentworth, who sailed the Queen of the North and other B.C. Ferries vessels in British Columbia's northern Inner Passage route for 30 years, said yesterday he believes "some level of human error," not mechanical problems, caused Wednesday's sinking.

Crew members have been telling him about an impact that tore open the vessel, and there have been passenger accounts of people seeing land just before hitting the island. "What they (the crew) and the passenger comments have told me (is) that the ship was going at full speed and then, 'Boom, boom, boom, boom,' and we took on water," he said.

"As much as I hate to say this, because I know these individuals, it really begins to look as if there's some level of human error there," Glentworth said.

The former captain said he has been calling some crew members and some have been calling him in the days since the sinking that is thought to have claimed the lives of two people.

"I retired last September and the crew that I had at the time of my retirement is the crew that was on that ship two nights ago," Glentworth said.

The Queen of the North sank early Wednesday in more than 400 metres of water in Wright Sound, about 75 km southwest of Prince Rupert. B.C. Ferries officials said the ship was off course when it hit the rocks and sank.

Ninety-nine passengers and crew were rescued.

Two passengers, Gerald Foisy and Shirley Rosette, a couple from 108 Mile House, are missing and now presumed dead.

Nobody has outright told Glentworth they suspect human error caused the sinking, but the numerous conversations he's had with crew members have allowed him to piece together his theory, he said.

"The only persons who can really tell us what happened were the persons in that wheelhouse and I haven't spoken to them," Glentworth said.

Transportation Safety Board investigators will determine the cause of the disaster.

Article taking from the Edmonton Sun

[guy]

Subs to assess sunken ferry

VANCOUVER -- Two high-tech, one-person submarines will enter the dark waters surrounding the wreckage of the Queen of the North today to get the first glimpses of the sunken ferry, while family members of the couple feared dead in the wreck anxiously wait.It has been a harrowing few days for everyone who is trying not to think the worst has happened to Shirley Rosette and her common-law husband, Gerald Foisy, said Ms. Rosette's father, Eric Rosette.

"We haven't heard anything more than what we've heard," said Mr. Rosette, of the Alkali Lake Indian Band near Williams Lake. "We're just waiting by the phone all the time to hear what they find."

The ferry was off course early Wednesday morning when it smashed into a rock and sank in the Northern Coast's Inside Passage.

Eight investigators from the federal Transportation Safety Board began interviewing passengers and crew yesterday, while a retired captain of the ferry agreed with those who assert that human error, not mechanical failure, caused the crash.

This afternoon, the two one-person submarines will descend 400 metres to locate the vessel and examine its hull.

"We'll find out what the wreckage looks like and get a clue to how it broke," said Phil Nuytten, the president of Nuytco, which designed and owns the subs.

Equipped with high-resolution cameras, bright lights and prehensile, mechanical hands, the subs will enter the pitch-black depths through an area known for rocky outcroppings and currents that change quickly.

"It's dark, and while the visibility is very good, the current changes, calm in one place, raging current in another, in the space of a city block," he said.

The second stage of the mission is to locate the hull breaches through which diesel fuel is leaking into Wright Sound, and the third is to find any trace of the two missing people, ferry representatives said.

Mr. Nuytten said the subs had recovered bodies in previous expeditions but hadn't been asked to enter the vessel by B.C. Ferries or the TSB.

The Queen of the North carried 220,000 litres of No. 2 diesel fuel, 20,000 litres of light oil and 220 litres of hydraulic oil, but it's not clear how much has leaked from its two fuel tanks.

The ferry company is examining options to plug the leaks or to pump out any remaining fuel, he said.

With calmer weather yesterday in Wright Sound, crews were able to loop a 330-metre long boom in a U-shape around the upwelling of fuel off Juan Point on Gil Island.

But because of the choppy waves of the previous day's storm, much of the diesel fuel has simply evaporated, and what remains is an incredibly thin film, said Nick Russo of Environment Canada.

Some fuel made it to fragile clam beds, but they would survive, he said.

"It's a contaminant, no doubt," he said. "But if you put it into perspective, it's very, very light. If this was a significant oil spill, the conditions right now would be when we would wrap up our cleanup."

The Transportation Safety Board will use the submersibles in its investigation, the results of which could be weeks away, spokesman John Cottreau said.

"Regardless of how long it takes for us to complete the investigation, if we uncover a safety deficiency, we will not wait for the publication of a final report," he said.

The loss of the ferry -- the main supply line for many coastal communities -- means grocery shelves will remain empty for several more days after panicked shoppers raided them for essentials.

"The lineups packed this store like crazy," said William Youngson, acting manager for Delmas Co-op on the Queen Charlotte Islands, where milk, eggs and fresh bread are now scarce.

"Everything we need comes through the ferry," he said. "It's our highway. It's our lifeline. We depend on that more than anything else."

A barge service is expected to resume to the Charlottes on Tuesday, but it could be weeks before a new ferry, the Queen of Prince Rupert, plies those waters.

On the Columbia River near Camas, Wash., yesterday morning, the 360-sternwheeler ferry Empress of the North ran aground on a sand bar after it changed course to avoid a barge. No one was injured.

[Sher]

B.C. ferry was on autopilot, safety board confirms

CTV.ca News Staff

The Transportation Safety Board is confirming the Queen of the North was on autopilot when it veered off course and ran into rocks about 75 kilometres southwest of Prince Rupert, B.C.

The ship went down in 427 metres of water around 1:30 a.m. on March 22 -- an hour after tearing its bottom out on the rocks of Gil Island.

The board also said on Tuesday that its field investigation into the ferry sinking is almost complete.


FOR THE REST OF THE ARTICLE, PLEASE CLICK LINK BELOW

sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060327/bc_ferry_wreckage_060328