Federal regulations governing tugboats called into question
Dozens of tugboat sinkings in B.C. waters highlight the “pressing need” for improved federal regulations around safety, the NDP transportation critic says.
“The number of incidents involving small tugboats on our coast calls into question whether the current regulations are up to the task,” said Taylor Bachrach, the NDP member of Parliament for Skeena-Bulkley Valley.
In response to a recent Postmedia series on tugboat safety, several B.C. mariners and their families expressed concern about safety standards in the industry.
The calls for better regulation have intensified since the sinking of the tugboat Ingenika. In February, captain Troy Pearson and deckhand Charley Cragg died when the tugboat sank near Kitimat. A third man, 19-year-old Zac Dolan, was rescued after he made it to shore. The tug, which was 14.63 gross tons, was towing a barge loaded with construction materials for a work site in Kemano. There was both a gale warning and an icy spray warning in effect that day.
Tugs play a critical role in many coastal industries, including forestry, mining and shipping. Despite this, Canada has fallen behind other countries in regulations, said marine architect Robert Allan, whose Vancouver company, Robert Allan Ltd. Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, designed six of the 14 tugboats that recently helped free the MV Ever Given in the Suez Canal.
After a raft of fatal tugboat sinkings in the 1960s, Ottawa created new regulations to govern the industry, setting up a system based on the internal volume of the boat. Tugboats more than 15 gross tons were subjected to annual inspections, which added to maintenance costs and took the boat out of service for a short time, while those under 15 gross tons were not.
“This created huge incentive for owners to build boats just under 15 gross tons,” said Allan.
The Transportation Safety Board has been calling on Transport Canada to make safety management systems (SMS) mandatory on all vessels, including tugs under 15 gross tons, for almost a decade. SMS is an internationally recognized framework that allows companies to identify and address safety risks.