RCMP officers prepare to search waters near Tofino, B.C., after a whale-watching boat capsized, killing five people and leaving one missing.KEVIN LIGHT/Reuters
While the search continues for a man who slipped out of the hands of fellow passengers and sank beneath the waves, questions are being raised about the stability of whale-watching boats like the ill-fated Leviathan II, which capsized with 27 people aboard near Tofino, B.C.
The capsizing of the tourist boat, which left five dead and one missing, should trigger a review of Canadian marine safety regulations governing the stability of tour ships, says an expert on naval architecture and marine engineering.
"I think what will come out of this is whether or not the requirements or regulations [on ship stability] need to be looked at once again," said Professor Jon Mikkelsen, a marine engineer at the University of British Columbia.
He thinks the stability regulations should be reviewed in light of the tragic accident which has shocked the small town on the west coast of Vancouver Island where the economy is largely based on ecotourism.
"I mean, the vessel did operate for a long period of time [safely], but we all know it only takes one capsizing," he said.
His comments came as RCMP divers continued to search for Rav Pillay, 27, an Australian passenger who vanished when the ship rolled over Sunday. Confirmed dead are: Katie Taylor, 29, a British citizen who was living in Whistler; Jack Slater, 76, a British national living in Toronto; David Thomas, 50, and his 18-year-old son, Stephen, who were visiting from Britain; and Nigel Hooker, 63, of Southampton, England.
Constable Jim Preston, a member of the RCMP dive team, on Wednesday described the desperate attempt by some of those on the boat to save Mr. Pillay.
"From the witness information, he was under the water and they were trying to hold onto him. … It's a struggle, they're fighting to stay on the surface themselves," he said. "They just can't hold him any more and he goes under. He goes straight down. They say the last thing they saw is him disappearing into the bottom."
Prof. Mikkelsen said the Leviathan II accident has parallels to another tragic accident on the West Coast, which killed five.
"It reminded me, of course, of Cap Rouge," he said.
In 2002, the Cap Rouge II, a fishing boat that had been modified from its original design, suddenly rolled over in Georgia Strait, just off Steveston. The accident happened so quickly that only two of the seven people aboard got out alive, even though many were just steps from an exit. An inquest into that accident led to numerous recommendations for, among other things, ensuring the stability of fishing boats.
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) said in a statement Tuesday that its investigation of the Leviathan II will include "reviewing stability information at the time of its construction, and examining any modifications … that may have affected its stability."
Prof. Mikkelsen said the way the Cap Rouge II capsized in relatively modest sea conditions was similar to the way the Leviathan II went over near Plover Reefs in comparable conditions.
The Leviathan II, operated by Jamie's Whaling Station in Tofino, featured an upper viewing deck and Prof. Mikkelsen said it will be important to determine if that was always there, or was part of a later modification.
"The [Cap Rouge II] had gone through conversions … [which] ended up raising the centre of gravity," he said.
A TSB investigator has said the Leviathan II capsized when it was struck on the starboard side by a wave, at a time when all the passengers were on the upper viewing deck, on the port side.
Prof. Mikkelsen said the Cap Rouge II was the victim of a sequence of events which together made the boat unstable and he suspects a similar thing may have happened to the Leviathan II.
He said waves are often steeper and bigger in shallows, such as around reefs, and if there was water washing over the deck, or fuel was "sloshing about" in tanks, that could also have destabilized the Leviathan II. A wave slightly larger than others could then have struck and that might have been enough to flip the boat.
"Capsizes are extremely dangerous because they happen so suddenly. It's not like the Titanic or Queen of the North that sink slowly," Prof. Mikkelsen said. "The capsize is instantaneous."
The Queen of the North was a BC Ferry with 101 people aboard that ran aground and sank, in 2006, with two fatalities.