By The Canadian Press

TSB to release report into deadly whale-watching incident off B.C. coast

Jun 13, 2017 | 12:37 PM

VANCOUVER — Some survivors of the deadly capsizing of a whale-watching vessel off Vancouver Island hope the release of a Transportation Safety Board investigation on Wednesday offers answers that will help them on their road to recovery, their lawyer says.

Five Britons and one Australian were killed when the Leviathan II overturned near the resort community of Tofino, B.C, on the afternoon of Oct. 23, 2015, with 24 passengers and three crew members on board.

Tom Hawkins, who is overseeing civil lawsuits for most of the family members of the deceased and 10 of the survivors, says his clients understand the need for a thorough investigation but many have had difficulty waiting for the report’s release.

“No one should underestimate how traumatic this has been for the families, and particularly the surviving passengers,” Hawkins said.

“It was a very, very touch-and-go event, as you can imagine, with people having perished right in their vicinity. They were basically struggling to survive themselves.”

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Jamie’s Whaling Station, the vessel’s owner, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A spokeswoman for the company said after the sinking that a rogue wave hit the 20-metre boat. Company owner Jamie Bray’s response to a civil claim last year described the incident as an “act of God” that could not have been reasonably predicted.

In the days immediately following the sinking, safety board investigators said most passengers and crew were on the top deck of the vessel’s port side, when a wave hit the starboard side. The vessel tilted up, rolled and capsized, said the board.

Survivors described being thrown into the ocean without life jackets, grabbing hold of a single life ring that floated in the waves.

The role of the safety board is to investigate marine, pipeline, rail and aviation incidents but it does not assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability.

The federal agency’s report will be useful in establishing the causes and contributing factors behind the sinking, and will help provide guidance for the civil cases, Hawkins said.

“There are going to be facts that are going to be noted in the report that will be of interest to all the parties.”

The RCMP are also investigating the incident and Cpl. Tammy Douglas said the Mounties’ file remains open pending the report.

Statistics from the Transportation Safety Board show that between Jan. 1, 2010, and the Leviathan sinking in 2015, there were 23 “reportable occurrences” involving whale-watching boats in Canada. None were fatal but five of the incidents resulted in six people being seriously injured. Thirteen of those 23 occurrences took place in B.C.

There were two incidents in Canada involving whale-watching vessels before 2010, both of which were in B.C., where four people died and three were seriously injured.

— Follow @gwomand on Twitter

Geordon Omand, The Canadian Press