BC Ferries and Transportation Safety Board will share black box data

The case won’t make it to court after all, as the Transportation Safety Board decided that it will allow BC Ferries access to the computer data that it recovered from the wreck of the Queen of the North off of Gil Island.

Earlier in the week, the Ferry Corporation had commenced action to take the Safety Board to court after the federal agency refused to turn over the data disks from the bridge of the Queen of the North. The data provides chart information from the navigation system on the ship and might help shed some light on the reasons for the disaster in March of 2006.

The board was declining to release the material recovered from the sunken vessel because it said B.C. Ferries would not provide assurances it would not publicly release the material before the release of a final board report into the accident, board spokesman John Cottreau said.
It’s an issue that apparently has been resolved with the announcement yesterday that BC Ferries will have access to that information.

If nothing else at least it removes one more roadblock from the eventual release of the report from the Transportation Safety Board. A lengthy court case over such silliness as access to data is the last thing the people of BC need, what they would like and should be demanding is prompt and complete information on the tragedy.

They deserve to know what happened on that fateful night, and having the two principles in the matter sparring over access is not at all in anyone’s interest. Thankfully we’re to be spared than unseemly show, now if we could only get some clear and truthful answers as to what happened that night, we might be able to bring a bit of closure to a tragic moment in BC’s maritime history.

B.C. Ferries, TSB to share ship's data
Deal comes after disclosure of lawsuit seeking access to computer hard drive from ferry's electronic chart system
IAN BAILEY
The Globe and Mail
May 26, 2007

VANCOUVER -- B.C. Ferries and the federal Transportation Safety Board yesterday agreed to share data gathered from the sunken Queen of the North ferry.

The deal, negotiated by lawyers, came soon after disclosures that the Crown-owned ferry company had filed a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court seeking access to a computer hard drive from the electronic chart system of the ferry, which ran aground near Prince Rupert in March of 2006.

The board was declining to release the material recovered from the sunken vessel because it said B.C. Ferries would not provide assurances it would not publicly release the material before the release of a final board report into the accident, board spokesman John Cottreau said.
With the agreement, however, the data were to be provided to B.C. Ferries today.

The data record the vessel's final movements and could provide new evidence about its motions before it ran into trouble.

Two of 101 passengers and crew aboard the ship remain missing.

B.C. Ferries president David Hahn said lawyers for two parties reached the deal yesterday, capping weeks of negotiations.

The company, Mr. Hahn said, was maintaining its option to go to court, but was satisfied now to be able to review the material.

"We still leave our options open to pursue court issues in our petition should we deem that necessary," Mr. Hahn said.

He said, as an example, that B.C. Ferries would resume its lawsuit if there was a safety issue highlighted by the material that the company wanted to release to the public.

"The main thing is we start tearing into the data and try to dig through as to what may or may not be there," he said.

"It's one of the more critical pieces of the puzzle because it's objective data. It's not human beings. It's machines talking and machines will give you very objective, statistical navigational references that are indisputable. They are unique in this situation."

Court documents suggest B.C. Ferries also wants the board's report delayed until it has a chance to analyze the electronic data.

The safety board recovered the material within two months of the ferry's sinking.

B.C. Ferries, which has fired three bridge crew based on its own investigation, also wants to analyze the material to help it respond to the board's report into the accident.