Many passengers were on one side of B.C. boat when wave hit
TOFINO, B.C.— Sightseeing passengers crowded the top deck of a whalewatching vessel when it was hit by a wave and then rolled, sending 27 people into the water off Vancouver Island, an investigator said.
On Tuesday, Marc-André Poisson, the director of marine investigations with the Transportation Safety Board, released preliminary results of Sunday’s accident that killed five British nationals. An Australian passenger is still missing.
“We know that most passengers and crew were on the top deck on the port side . . . this would have raised the centre of gravity, affecting the vessel’s stability,” he said.
“We also know that the sea conditions were such that the wave approached the vessel from the starboard quarter,” he said. “We know the vessel broached and then capsized.” A GTA woman whose father was among those killed posted a poignant eulogy on Facebook Tuesday, calling his death “a tragedy beyond belief.”
Michele Slater Brown, of Milton, Ont., on Tuesday posted an emotional message about her late father, Jack Slater, a British national living in Toronto.
“Our hearts are broken today, our father was one of the people who lost their lives on the whale watching tragedy in Tofino,” the Facebook message read.
“Our Dad was larger than life, a charmer, handsome, entrepreneur, engineer in the Navy. He was 76 years old. He was our Dad, our lovely Dad.
“I will miss him forever, but I’m grateful for all the times I spent with him. I love you dad.”
She had earlier updated her profile picture to be an image of her father. Underneath, she wrote: “I loved him so much, I was so proud to call him my dad.” Brown later wrote: “the last several years have been amazing, fulfilling, life-affirming.
“We are heartbroken; we loved and looked up to him so much. He was an adventurer. He lived his life his way.
“I’m so sorry he had to die in this way. It’s a tragedy beyond belief. I’m proud of who he was and who he created. My sisters are strong and we will continue to live our lives, always with him in our minds and hearts.”
The other British victims were identified Tuesday as Nigel Hooker, 63, from Southampton; David Thomas, 50, and his 17-year-old son Stephen, from Swindon; and Katie Taylor, 29, a British national living in Whistler, B.C. In total, 24 passengers and three crew were on board the MV Leviathan II, according to Jamie’s Whaling Station, the boat tour company. Twenty-one people were rescued.
The company’s owner, Jamie Bray, said the Leviathan II sank in an area it visits every day, and the skipper has more than 20 years experience whale-watching in B.C. waters.
Asenior employee of Jamie’s Whaling Station said the vessel sank so quickly the crew didn’t have time to issue a mayday call.
An initial investigation suggests those who died were at the top of the 20-metre-long boat and were not wearing life-jackets, said coroner Matt Brown.