North Coast MLA Gary Coons has been quick to respond to the findings of the Transportation Safety Board after their final report into the crash of the Queen of Oak Bay two years ago was released on Thursday.
Few British Columbians will forget the visual image of a giant BC Ferry laying waste to twenty eight pleasure craft, after a mechanical failure resulted in the ferry crashing into the dock at West Vancouver’s Horseshoe Bay.
Few British Columbians will forget the visual image of a giant BC Ferry laying waste to twenty eight pleasure craft, after a mechanical failure resulted in the ferry crashing into the dock at West Vancouver’s Horseshoe Bay.
.
At the time it was determined by BC Ferries, that a single missing cotter pin caused the engines to rev up, which resulted in a safety procedure becoming activated that shut down the engines, leaving the vessel without steering or thrust and powerless to stop or change its path towards shore.
In a media release, the North Coast MLA said:
“It’s been two years since the Oak Bay lost power and destroyed several pleasure craft at Horseshoe Bay, and the public has been kept in the dark by B.C. Ferries,” said Coons.
“It’s reasonable to believe that B.C. Ferries was aware of the problems highlighted by the TSB, but they have said nothing.
“It’s time for Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon to insist that all safety reports and records be made public by B.C. Ferries.”
The long time critic of B. C. Ferries expressed his concern over what he believes to be a shrugging off of responsibilities, referencing a letter from Information and Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis, who back in 2003 wrote a letter to then Ferries Minister Judith Reid asking that the government should insist in its dealings with BC Ferries that the corporation be required to release all internal safety reports to the public.
.
Coons suggests that at that time Minister Reid was insisting that coastal ferry safety was a uniquely federal responsibility, a view he says the Provincial government seems to continue with four years later.
While the provincial government probably expected a blast from the opposition, the actual final report from the Safety Board isn’t exactly singing their praises either.
The key points from the report take the Ferry Corporation to task over maintenance and safety concerns.
As part of the final report the board found that BC Ferries' procedures were lacking in guidance for many maintenance tasks that are critical to safety.
The board was also concerned that a single failure, such as a cotter pin, could disable a ferry's entire propulsion system, a scenario that places the vessel, passengers, crew and people on shore at risk.
The report also pointed out that there was no one on deck watching for any trouble upon approach, so to rectify that problem, the board has ordered BC Ferries to make sure a deckhand is ready to drop anchor during all arrivals and departures.
David Hahn, the President of B. C. Ferries was quick to point out that the Ferry Corporation did not wait for the final report to come and has already addressed 90 per cent of the issues raised and plans to take care of the rest to be soon.
.
The Vancouver Sun and Victoria Times Colonist however, both ran stories on their websites that suggest that the problem that plagued the Queen of Oak Bay could still take place in the fleet. (see links below)
.
As for the folks at the Legislature, there has been no comment on the findings from the provincial government yet.
.
Though in an interesting bit of timing, Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon is scheduled to be the first guest on Bill Good’s CKNW talk show on Friday morning. He’s supposed to talk about Translink and other Lower Mainland transportation issues, but somehow we suspect that on one of those lines may be a guy named Gary, with maybe a few questions about the state of safety and maintenance on the coastal ferry fleet.
CKNW streams on the internet from their website, so local ferry users concerned about the dialogue (or perceived lack of) between the government, the Ferry Corporation and the Safety Board can tune in and participate if they wish.
Transport Safety Board Documents:
News coverage of the Safety Board report and the fall out from it:
CBC News-Report slams problems at BC Ferries
Vancouver Sun-Failures possible
Victoria Times Colonist-Design fault that led to ferry crash still exists
Globe and Mail-Inquiry says missing pin led to B.C. ferry crash
Global BC- Home page coverage
No comments:
Post a Comment