Lessons from the Queen of the North tragedy

As British Columbians commemorate the sinking of the Queen of the North, there have been some lessons learned from that tragic night.

Lindsay Kines of the Victoria Time Colonist reviews some of the changes that have taken place in the Ferry Corporation in the wake of the tragedy.

Learning from the sinking
How loss of Queen of the North changed B.C. Ferries
Lindsay Kines
Times Colonist
Tuesday, March 20, 2007

The president of the company thinks about it every day, some crew members are still off work, and key investigation reports have yet to be released to the public. But one year later, B.C. Ferries is looking to the future, while never forgetting what happened when the Queen of the North struck an island and sank last March, taking two passengers with her.

“I think it’s important we don’t lose sight of what occurred — ever,” president David Hahn said in an interview.

“I know I think about it every day; there’s not a day that goes by — there hasn’t been since one o’clock in the morning that day.”

Hahn looks at things harder now. “I question more things. Just to make sure. And maybe, you know, try to make sure you’re not missing something.”

Even before the release of the company’s own investigation or that of the Transportation Safety Board, B.C. Ferries has made a number of changes to improve safety. “Accidents are always going to happen,” Hahn said. “This type and this particular scenario should never happen. But I think it’s up to all of us here to just keep working hard to make sure we make it as safe as we can.”

Among the changes:

• People travelling on northern routes now have to provide identification so the crew can match passengers to the names on the ship’s manifest, much the way airlines do. Gone are the days of travelling under somebody else’s reservation.

• Crew members have to sign off on newly installed or modified bridge equipment to show they’re comfortable using it.

• A new voyage data-recorder program has been installed on some vessels, including the North’s replacement vessel, the Northern Adventure.

• The company is working with Transport Canada to get new flotation devices for the crew that will give them more mobility and allow them to do more.

• Training has been accelerated on such things as a new electronic charting system.

The B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union and Hahn agree that one of the most positive changes in the past year has been a better working relationship between the two sides.

Union vice-president Richard Goode says former auditor general George Morfitt’s review of safety practices at B.C. Ferries “empowered” both sides to set aside their differences and work together on safety issues.

NDP ferries critic Gary Coons, however, remains concerned about the lack of public accountability by B.C. Ferries, which is shielded from the province’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Coons said safety and maintenance reports should be readily available to the public.

He, like others, awaits the release of the company’s report on the accident, which is due in a few weeks. Hahn predicts it will be even tougher than that of the Transportation Safety Board, slated for release later this year.

Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon hesitated to say much about the sinking until after the reports.

But he, too, pointed to the thawing of union-management relations as the “defining positive” development in the past year.

“With over 180,000 sailings a year, we recognize at the end of the day that the people who operate the ferries are human and humans are prone to making mistakes and errors,” he said. “But having said that, I hope the ferry corporation and the union, by working together, will minimize the prospect of that happening in the future. If they can do that, that’s a win for everyone.”