The Norwegian Star sends a charter boat to the bottom of the harbour, Tricorp is not happy with the BCUC's Clean Power call observations and for the gillnet fleet it's next year time. Some of the items of note from the Friday edition.
LOCAL CHARTER BOAT GOES FOR A DUNK AT THE DOCK-- The arrival of the Norwegian Star cruise ship in Prince Rupert sent a local charter operator into the harbour and his boat to the bottom of it, after a swell from the docking cruise ship swamped the smaller vessel. (see story below)
Tricorp, the local First Nations investment arm is not overly happy with a recent BCUC decision calling for a new approach to the Clean Power options that BC Hydro was considering. Tricorp which was looking to run of river power projects and such as a form of investment for the First Nations who were looking to such projects as a way of countering the current struggling economic times. Tricorp is not alone in its disappointment with the BCUC, the Haida also have expressed an interest in investing in the NaiKun project on Haida Gwaii, a project which may also suffer from the most recent announcements from the Utilities Commission. (see story here)
The gillnet fleet all but runs up the white flag on the fishing season, with low returns, poor communication with DFO and a season that just didn't ever get started highlighting a summer of frustration for the fleet, most of which has left Prince Rupert waters for their southern based homes. With 2009 a bust, most now will wait to see what may be their fate in 2010 and if indeed they have a future in a Pacific salmon fishery. (see story here)
The Sports pages featured a look at the Terrace racing scene, with a weekend of racing on the horizon.
Total pages in the Friday edition (16)
Front page, headline story:
LOCAL CHARTER BOAT GOES FOR A DUNK AT THE DOCK
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Friday, August 7, 2009
Page one
Charter boat operator Howard Massecar was sunk dock-side by a massive swell on Thursday.
The operator of the Howard F "Two" fishing charter, Massecar, was standing on his deck waiting for customers to arrive when a swell of harbour water from the Norwegian Star cruise ship swamped his boat and took him under.
"I just got sucked down," remarked Massecar.
According to the unfortunate man, he was pulled down quickly and before he knew it he was swimming for his life.
"I had to get to the other side of the dock by swimming under it," said Massecar.
Prince Rupert Port Authority Manager of Communications, Barry Bartlett, said that this is the first time this has ever happened at the port authority dock from a cruise ship thrust. He added that the RCMP, the Coast Guard and PRPA security were all investigating the accident.
"What we can say right now is the boat just kind of swamped for some reason, but we don't know the exact cause just, yet," said Bartlett.
The reason the PRPA say they don't know the cause is that Massecar's boat was the only one to suffer from the cruise ship thrust. All of the other boats tied to the PRPA dock at the Atlin terminal were fine, including the two boats on either side of where the Howard F "Two" had been stationed.
According to Bartlett, charter boats are parked at the terminal as part of the tour excursion packages organized by Norwegian Star and the PRPA.
"They are there for whatever number of people want to go fishing and this is no change for the boats to be docking there at this time of day," said Bartlett.
The incident certainly created a stir on the docks as people from all around Cow Bay had gathered to see if Massecar was all right and theorized what had caused the boat to go under.
One tourist even had a video of the incident, which was soon handed over to the RCMP officer and the PRPA security manager, David Fisher, for investigative purposes.
"This is going to be used to help Mr. Massecar," Fisher told the skeptical tourist, who finally relented and handed the camera over to the RCMP officer and the PRPA security manager. David Fisher, for investigative purposes.
As for Massecar, while he may not have been seriously injured, he was soaked from head to toe, his shoes had gone missing and his left arm was covered in crimson scrapes. It was, to say the least, a difficult afternoon.
''I'm feeling kind of bummed out," he said.
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