Two B.C. Ferries workers were injured and four sailings were cancelled Friday after an accident during a safety drill at Swartz Bay.
Two workers on the Spirit of Vancouver Island were thrown into the water, said B.C. Ferries chief executive Mark Collins.
“They were sent to the hospital to be checked out,” he said.
“Right now, we don’t know a lot about their state of health. However, any injury of any type is too much.”
The two employees were in the water for about two minutes before they were rescued by other boats that were taking part in the drill.
Collins said he doesn’t know what went wrong during the drill, done while the vessel was docked, but it involved a rescue boat and the davit used to lower the boat from the ferry and retrieve it.
“We are investigating and we will get the answers in the coming days,” he said. “Right now, the focus is on the health and safety of our crewmates and trying to get all of the travellers out there to their destination.”
Two round trips between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen were cancelled as a result of the incident, which happened on what is expected to be a very busy Labour Day long weekend. The vessel, the largest in the fleet, was back in service for the 3 p.m. sailing.
Because B.C. Ferries does not have a replacement vessel available during the peak season, it was unable to put another ferry on the route, and there were waits of up to four sailings in the afternoon. An extra 11 p.m. sailing from Tsawwassen was added.
Graeme Johnston, president of the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union, said members’ thoughts are with the injured workers and their familiess.
“This is the second time this year there has been a substantial failure regarding rescue boats, and these incidents cause our union deep concern,” he said.
Collins said he takes the incident personally.
“For me, these are my family, I have worked with them for years, and I care about every one of them,” he said.
“It distresses me personally when I see our people get injured in this way, and we will work hard with them to help them recover.”
The incident is similar to one in April involving the Queen of Cumberland. Two crew members had to be retrieved from the water near Swartz Bay when a davit failed.
“There are similarities, but it’s too early to say if there’s any connection between the two [incidents],” Collins said. “We need to investigate and get the facts on this before we can say the two are related.”
Transport Canada, the Transportation Safety Board and WorkSafe B.C. are investigating B.C. Ferries will also carry out an internal investigation.
“It’s in the hands of the regulatory agencies, and we are working with them to determine what the next steps are,” Collins said.
