BC Ferries has just released its "in house" report of the sinking of the Queen of the North which, a little over a year ago, ran into gill island (hey... who put that island there) and sank. Seems like
they leave no room for anyone to say that it was anything other than human error, although of course not assigning blame.
The rumors persist though, and I for one are more anxious to find out what the TSB report will say. In the past, they have been very detailed in their findings and in my view, more precise than one could expect from the company. Althought I am just on my way out the door, so I have not read thoroughly the report yet, but just in skimming it, its seems pretty thorough.
On a another note. Well I guess "having sex on the bridge" can finally be ruled out, since the ship was off course for a full 14 minutes, leaving thirteen and half minutes to change course. Sorry, bad joke, but I had to throw it in there...
Below is a story from the Marine L newsgroup....
Queen of the North Divisional Inquiry Confirms Vessel Did Not Change Course
Victoria BC March 26, 2007 - BC Ferries released the findings of its internal investigation into the March 22, 2006 sinking of the Queen of the North today.
The report concludes that the Queen of the North failed to make the required or any course changes at Sainty Point, and that the ship proceeded straight on an incorrect course for four nautical miles over 14 minutes until its grounding on Gil Island.
The Divisional Inquiry received information from the Transportation Safety Board, which successfully recovered the main computer and hard drive from the vessel’s Electronic Chart System ("ECS") and enabled their investigators to reconstruct the actual course and speed of
the ship on March 22, 2006.
There was no evidence of alterations of speed at any time during the transit of Wright Sound, and the Queen of the North impacted Gil Island at 17.5 knots.
The Divisional Inquiry Panel concluded that human factors were the primary cause of the sinking of the Queen of the North.
The purpose of a Divisional Inquiry is to gather information regarding contributing factors and generate safety recommendations that can be applied fleetwide if necessary, to educate the fleet and prevent reoccurrence of a similar type of incident.
The report also makes 31 recommendations on equipment, bridge team, and emergency and evacuation procedures. Some of the recommendations have already been implemented and the rest will be acted upon.
To view the full report, visit http://www.bcferries.com/about/qnorthdivisionalinquiry.html
the ship on March 22, 2006.