// BC Ferry sinks off coast of Queen Charlotte Islands

Canadian Press; Broadcast News
Published: Wednesday, March 22, 2006

PRINCE RUPERT, B.C. -- Grateful survivors of today's ferry sinking off the Queen Charlotte Islands are telling graphic stories of their ill-fated journey. Passenger Lawrence Papineau, one of the 100 people who took to lifeboats in choppy seas, says it was like a scene out of the Titanic. He says passengers heard a crashing noise, then the 125-metre ship tilted to one side. Within an hour, Papineau says the vessel tilted again and levelled out before it "sank down to the sixth deck, came up like the Titanic, dipped and then it went under."

The orderly rescue of dozens of people from the ferry's lifeboats -- 42 crew members and 59 passengers -- and the fact that no one was seriously injured is nothing short of miraculous, said the president of B.C. Ferries.

"Anytime you have a major incident and you have no one hurt or killed in this type of thing, I think you always think it's a miracle," David Hahn said. "You always think, thank God, and you (are) thankful for the crew. That's what they're trained to do. They've done their job once again."

The Queen of the North, sailing south on a 450-kilometre overnight trip from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy along what's known as B.C.'s Inside Passage, hit the rock in choppy seas and high winds. It took about an hour for the boat to sink, allowing those aboard the ferry to get on the lifeboats and giving rescuers time to reach them.

The Sir Wilfrid Laurier, which was in the area and on the scene by 2:10 a.m., and a fishing boat from Hartley Bay, the Lone Star, were instrumental in the rescue.

The Lone Star, in fact, "played a very valuable role" by pulling passengers from the life rafts and taking them to the Hartley Bay community centre, Canadian Coast Guard spokesman Dan Bate said. Other residents of Hartley Bay took speedboats out to the site of the incident to help rescue passengers.

Local community offers comfort
Most of those rescued from the lifeboats were taken to a community centre in Hartley Bay where the town's residents brought them blankets and coffee; the others were still aboard the Sir Wilfrid Laurier. They were all to be taken to Prince Rupert later Wednesday.

Some of the passengers were in their nightclothes when rescued. The ferry left Prince Rupert at 8 p.m. PST Tuesday and wasn't due to arrive in Port Hardy until noon Wednesday.

The 125-metre-long vessel was completely submerged about 135 kilometres from Prince Rupert after hitting the rock, listing to one side and then sinking.

"It's unfortunate to lose the ship, but if that's the cost of having nobody really hurt or killed, then fine, I think we'll live with that," Hahn said.

Hahn and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell were headed to Prince Rupert to meet with those rescued from the ferry. An eight-member team from the Transportation Safety Board was also due in the area later in the day.

Nicole Robinson, a receptionist at the nursing station in Hartley Bay, said she talked to several members of the ferry's crew who were sleeping when the ship began to take on water.

"They heard a loud bang like it grinded a bit and they said the cabin started filling with water," she said.

Some people were hurt, but not seriously, said Robinson. Many were "stunned."

"We've just had a few patients come and go, minor injuries. The community all got together with blankets; everybody's pretty cold but they're all down at a community hall," Robinson said.

Injured flown to Prince Rupert
Hartley Bay resident Wally Bolton, helping out at the village cultural centre where the ferry evacuees were taken, said a medivac helicopter was taking some passengers with minor injuries from Hartley Bay to Prince Rupert.

"I know there's one head injury and I think there's a sprained wrist and a case of high blood pressure," Bolton said. "All the rest of the other people are OK.''

Bolton said the evacuees were shaken and tired.

Shelby Robinson, 13, said the entire village of Hartley Bay, with about 200 residents, pitched in when the distress call came in.

"I stayed here to get ready for them when they came in, get blankets ready and everything," she said.

Robinson confirmed fishermen from the isolated village rushed out to help evacuate the sinking ferry.

"Most of the guys went out and got their boats running right away and they took people in by groups," she said, adding witness said the ferry was listing to one side.

Added Chris Bolton, the former band manager of Hartley Bay: "We had two gillnetters go out and four speedboats that went out to assist taking passengers in from the ferry to Hartley Bay. We had the ladies prepare refreshments, coffee and sandwiches for the passengers that came.''

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

"From what we hear, it took about an hour for the ship to sink so most of the people did manage to get onto lifeboats," said Capt. Leah Byrne of the Search and Rescue Centre in Victoria. "There was an orderly evacuation of personnel from the vessel, including passengers and crew."

According to the B.C. Ferries website, the ship was built in Germany in 1969 and refitted in 2001. It can hold up to 700 people and 115 cars.

The book The Ships of British Columbia says B.C. Ferries bought the boat for $13.8 million in 1974 and named it the Queen of Surrey. The ferry was retired in 1976 until it was decided to put her on the Queen Charlotte run in 1980. More than $10 million was spent to prepare her for her days as The Queen of the North.