Five die as wave flips whale watching boat
British tourists drown after 65ft vessel capsizes off Canadian coast with only crew wearing life jackets
Five British tourists were killed when a freak wave “flipped” their boat during a whale watching tour off the coast of Canada. The 65ft-long Leviathan II capsized in 30ft of water seven miles off Vancouver Island, officials said. According to the captain of one rescue vessel, the boat’s crew were wearing life jackets while the tourists were only in street clothes. The remaining 21 crew and passengers were taken to hospital.
FIVE Britons were killed when a freak wave “flipped” their boat on a whalewatching tour off the coast of western Canada before they had time to put life jackets on, rescuers said.
Four men and one woman died when a vessel carrying 27 people capsized in 30ft of water seven miles from the town of Tofino on Vancouver Island on Sunday. Officials said 21 people had been rescued and one was still missing.
Four people are being treated in hospital and are in a “stable” condition.
Alec Dick, one of the first to reach the 65ft-long boat, the Leviathan II, operated by Jamie’s Whaling Station, said: “They must have got swamped by a huge wave and it flipped their boat completely.
“I don’t think they had time to do anything. Whatever happened, happened so quick.”
Last night it emerged that the crew had been wearing life jackets while the tourists were in their normal clothing. Peter Frank Jr, captain of the vessel White Star, which rescued some survivors, told the Vancouver Sun: “What amazed me was that the crew of Jamie’s all had their things on, their life vests and everything, but the tourists themselves, they were just wearing street clothes.”
He added: “The waves were pretty big out there. I was scared.”
Jamie Bray, owner of the whalewatching company, said: “This was totally out of the blue. The boat was still in gear when it was upside down.”
Canadian laws did not require passengers on a boat that size to wear life jackets, only for them to be available on board.
The victims were three British holidaymakers and two British expatriates living in Canada – one in British Columbia and one in Ontario. They were aged between 18 and 76, the British Columbia Coroner’s Office said.
Jenn Newman, one of the Canadian survivors of the incident, suggested some of the victims were part of the same family and that one family member had survived.
“My heart is broken for the family member who lost loved loves to the sea this afternoon, their faces will always be a memory in my heart,” she wrote on social media.
Ken Lucas, a fisherman, said he saw a single flare which a female crew member set off as the boat capsized.
When Mr Lucas arrived he rescued two women clinging to each other in the water, one of whom was pregnant and the other had a broken leg. He said: “You could hear people screaming on the rocks. One lady (the female crew member) told us that they capsized from a wave.”
Tom Campbell, a councillor for the aboriginal Ahousaht First Nation, said his fisherman cousin rescued eight people. He said: “Their looks tell the whole story. They look totally lost, shocked and lost.”
Leviathan II had been on one of its last whale watching tours of the season, in an area called Plover Reefs where the water can be rough.
The company operating the boat had been criticised by investigators over a fatal accident suffered by one of its smaller boats in the same area in 1998.
On that occasion two people died as the tour boat was hit by a “rogue wave”. The 20ft-long vessel, Ocean Thunder, was swamped and all four people on board were thrown into the water.
One passenger, who could not swim and was not wearing a life jacket, drowned and so did the driver of the boat. A report by the Transportation Board of Canada said: “A factor contributing to the occurrence was that the operator did not fully appreciate the conditions the boat would meet at the time of the accident in the turbulent waters in the vicinity of reefs.”
Mr Bray said yesterday that the Leviathan II stayed at least 100 metres away from rocks, where sea lions rest, and the experienced driver knew the waters well. There were 70 life jackets on board and three life rafts but passengers did not have time to use them.
Mr Bray said: “This is an area the boat goes to every day. This day was no different to any other day. This vessel has had an absolutely perfect safety record for 20 years. We just don’t understand. The crew is traumatised.”
Philip Hammond, the Foreign Secretary, said: “My thoughts are with the family and friends of all those affected by this terrible accident.”
‘What amazed me was that the crew all had their life vests on, but the tourists were just wearing street clothes’