Lack of Training key to disaster?

The Transporation Safety Board issued a letter to B. C. Ferries today, citing human error to the sinking of the Queen of the North on March 22nd.

The letter which is the first commentary from the Safety Board since it began its investigation, said some crew members on the Queen of the North may not have received proper training on the ship's new steering and navigational equipment.

The President of B. C. Ferries, David Hahn commented that the Ferry Corporation takes the findings seriously and was taking further measures regarding training, though he expressed a bit of bewilderment at the idea of those on the bridge not being comfortable with their equipment, "These are master mariners, so again I'm having a little trouble that they would want to be in control of a ship and not be familiar with their equipment," said Hahn.

Reports have it that the crew was so unfamiliar with the system's night monitoring that they turned it off during the sailing.

The preliminary findings and letter to B. C. Ferries, will increase the tension between the corporation and the ferries workers union, who have been rather terse with each other the last couple of days.

Bill Good on CKNW investigated the issue on his talk show at 8:35 this morning, included in his program was an interview with Hahn who discussed the latest developments. You can listen in to the program by going to the CKNW audio vault from 8-9:00 am.