[溫哥華本地新聞] BC Ferries cancels 4 sailings between Vancouver and Victoria

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BC Ferries cancels 4 sailings between Vancouver and Victoria after safety-drill accident

Just ahead of the long weekend, BC Ferries has been forced to cancel four sailings on its busiest route between Vancouver and Victoria.

The sailings were cancelled after two workers fell into the water during a safety drill on the Spirit of Vancouver Island at the Swartz Bay terminal.

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The BC Ferries employees were lowering a rescue boat into the water when something went wrong with the cable brake.

They fell about 15 metres to the water, and were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Four sailings cancelled

The affected sailings include:

• 7 a.m. departing Swartz Bay
• 9 a.m. departing Tsawwassen
• 11 a.m. departing Swartz Bay
• 1 p.m. departing Tsawwassen

Anyone with a reservation on the cancelled sailings will get an automatic refund and will be accommodated on the next available sailing, according to BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall.

The cancellations led to long waits of two and three sailings in both directions on the route on Friday morning.

There were two-sailing waits in both directions for BC Ferries busiest route on Friday morning, after an accident during a safety drill took the Spirit of Vancouver Island out of service for four sailings.
Not the first time

This is the second time this summer that crew members have been injured during safety drills involving a rescue boat.

In April, two deckhands from the Queen of Cumberland fell into the water when a davit — the small crane that lowers rescue boats — failed.

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That ship was taken out of service for about a month while the davit was replaced.