One year later, still waiting for answers.

With the anniversary of the sinking of the Queen of the North arriving tomorrow, the Globe and Mail offered up a timely review of the events of that night and where the numerous invesgtigations into the sinking stand at the moment.

A year later, answers still lost at sea
All the facts have not yet surfaced since B.C. ferry Queen of the North sank
ROD MICKLEBURGH
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

VANCOUVER — One year ago on Thursday, Graham Clarke sat huddled in a bobbing lifeboat, watching through the driving, early-morning rain a surreal sight that no one who was there will ever forget.

The Queen of the North, the large, brightly lit passenger ferry he had boarded just hours before, was going down.

“As the bow went up, there was this huge grinding, crashing, banging din, as things began to tear loose,” Mr. Clarke recalled this week, still marvelling at the memory.

“The bulkheads, heavy machinery, truck trailers, everything was falling to the stern of the ship. Then, you were looking at the funnel disappearing, the windows were blowing out and there was a whoosh of air, as she went down,” Mr. Clarke said.

“You could hear her hitting rocks on the way, shuddering and twitching, like she was in her death throes. Then, complete silence. It was so quiet, you could hear the rain dropping.”

The 63-year-old shipping executive, not realizing at the time that two passengers had gone down with the ship, led the stunned, chilled survivors in as lusty a three-cheers as they could manage for the first vessel in the history of the publicly owned B.C. Ferries fleet to be lost at sea.
But there have been few, if any, cheers over the sinking since.

One year later, the cause of the mishap remains a mystery, union and company relations have been poisoned by the event, and families of the two victims are still searching for answers, denied even the minimal comfort of a death certificate.

The Queen of the North sank about one hour after running full tilt into rocky Gil Island, 150 kilometres south of Prince Rupert, where it had left for an overnight passage to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island. The gruesome collision ripped open the ship's hull, forcing 99 crew and passengers to abandon ship in the middle of the night.

Even as those on board and their heroic rescuers from the nearby native community of Hartley Bay recall the harrowing events of a year ago, however, the central question remains publicly unanswered.

How could the Queen of the North have strayed so far off course without anyone in charge of navigating and steering the ship noticing?

A report from B.C. Ferries' own inquiry into the mishap is expected to solve large parts of the mystery when it is released Friday, or Monday at the latest.

But company investigators were hampered by the refusal of two key union crew members to answer questions.

On the bridge at the time were helmswoman Karen Bricker and navigator Karl Lilgert. Below deck, having a meal break, was Second Officer Keven Hilton.

Contrary to many media reports, Ms. Bricker has co-operated to some extent with the inquiry, and continues to be paid, although she remains off work.

But Mr. Lilgert and Mr. Hilton have remained silent, their lawyer citing concern over potential civil and criminal liability.

Both men have been suspended without pay.

Previous media reports have suggested the ship may have been on autopilot when it ran into Gil Island, without a crucial course correction having been made to swing the vessel safely into mid-channel.

An early finding by the Transportation Safety Board also revealed that the monitor on the ship's new electronic chart system had been turned off because crew members did not know how to reduce its glare.

The RCMP's major-crimes unit is continuing to investigate the sinking, with up to six officers assigned to determine whether criminal negligence was a factor.

As they prepare for an emotional anniversary memorial on the windswept, uninhabited island, relatives of the two missing passengers are renewing their pleas for tight-lipped crew members to tell what happened.

“We wish they would come forward and tell the truth. That's all we ask,” said Dwight Melnyk, brother-in-law of Gerald Foisy, who has not been seen since the sinking.

“We want to know what happened on the bridge that night and why. It would be closure for everybody, particularly Gerald's two young daughters.”

Exacerbating the families' anguish is the fact that Mr. Foisy, 46, and his 42-year-old fiancée Shirley Rosette, also missing, have yet to be declared dead, meaning their four children cannot collect survivor benefits.

Saturday's private memorial for the families is being organized by residents of Hartley Bay, the same folks who dashed out into the night on a rescue mission mere moments after the ferry's “mayday” crackled over the air.

Within 15 minutes, they were carting survivors back to the small, isolated, coastal village to be warmed and fed.

And when relatives of the missing couple showed up, villagers took them out to the site of the tragedy.

“I can't say enough about them. They have opened their arms to us and it means so much,” Mr. Melnyk said. “They are just beautiful people.”