T
The Fish Assassin
Guest
From the T/C.
As winds raged, waves knocked around a tugboat struggling under the weight of two barges, finally pulling it under, leaving two shivering tugboat operators floating in a life-raft for more than two hours before they finally drifted onto an island north of Campbell River.
"They were cold, but otherwise OK," said Mike Stacey, a coast guard maritime search-and-rescue co-ordinator who was not part of the crew that rescued them.
The 42-foot tugboat, Island Provider I, was supposed to arrive at Kelsey Bay near Sayward in the Johnstone Straits early yesterday morning.
At 8:16 a.m., the coast guard in Comox alerted the Victoria Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre that the tugboat, owned by Campbell River- based West Coast Tug and Barge, was missing.
Shortly after, a search-and-rescue contingent of about 18 people set off to find the missing crew. It included a team from the rescue centre, a coast guard cutter crew out of Campbell River, a Canadian Forces Buffalo fixed-wing aircraft and Cormorant helicopter and an assist tugboat contracted by the company.
The two tugboat operators last talked to the coast guard in Comox at 2:20 a.m., saying bad weather had hit and they were going to remain in the Sunderland Channel -- about five kilometres from Kelsey Bay -- until morning.
Rescuers would later discover the tugboat never left the channel. A strong, northwesterly wind overnight was likely blowing at more than 55 kilometres an hour, said Stacey, with the Victoria rescue centre.
The weight of the barges and the treacherous weather proved too much for the tugboat, which sank around 3:30 a.m., he said.
The rescue centre couldn't confirm one report that breaking seas over the bow blew out the tug's windows, flooding the vessel and short-circuiting the bridge's wiring, so it wasn't able to issue a mayday call.
They do know it was sudden and that the two men weren't able to put out a radio call to the coast guard saying they were in trouble.
They only had time to hop into a life-raft and drift to safety amid near- freezing conditions.
It was the assist tugboat that finally spotted two men in a life-raft on the shore of Hardwicke Island, about six miles from Kelsey Bay.
The two barges, one carrying building materials and the other equipment, were found stranded in the Sunderland Channel, anchored by the sunken tug.
One man aboard the barge was rescued by the coast guard cutter and taken to Kelsey Bay.
It's not unusual for a tugboat to pull two large barges, Stacey said, but it can be difficult during extreme weather.
"The good part of this is that there were no fatalities," he said.
The Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident.
Take only what you need.
As winds raged, waves knocked around a tugboat struggling under the weight of two barges, finally pulling it under, leaving two shivering tugboat operators floating in a life-raft for more than two hours before they finally drifted onto an island north of Campbell River.
"They were cold, but otherwise OK," said Mike Stacey, a coast guard maritime search-and-rescue co-ordinator who was not part of the crew that rescued them.
The 42-foot tugboat, Island Provider I, was supposed to arrive at Kelsey Bay near Sayward in the Johnstone Straits early yesterday morning.
At 8:16 a.m., the coast guard in Comox alerted the Victoria Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre that the tugboat, owned by Campbell River- based West Coast Tug and Barge, was missing.
Shortly after, a search-and-rescue contingent of about 18 people set off to find the missing crew. It included a team from the rescue centre, a coast guard cutter crew out of Campbell River, a Canadian Forces Buffalo fixed-wing aircraft and Cormorant helicopter and an assist tugboat contracted by the company.
The two tugboat operators last talked to the coast guard in Comox at 2:20 a.m., saying bad weather had hit and they were going to remain in the Sunderland Channel -- about five kilometres from Kelsey Bay -- until morning.
Rescuers would later discover the tugboat never left the channel. A strong, northwesterly wind overnight was likely blowing at more than 55 kilometres an hour, said Stacey, with the Victoria rescue centre.
The weight of the barges and the treacherous weather proved too much for the tugboat, which sank around 3:30 a.m., he said.
The rescue centre couldn't confirm one report that breaking seas over the bow blew out the tug's windows, flooding the vessel and short-circuiting the bridge's wiring, so it wasn't able to issue a mayday call.
They do know it was sudden and that the two men weren't able to put out a radio call to the coast guard saying they were in trouble.
They only had time to hop into a life-raft and drift to safety amid near- freezing conditions.
It was the assist tugboat that finally spotted two men in a life-raft on the shore of Hardwicke Island, about six miles from Kelsey Bay.
The two barges, one carrying building materials and the other equipment, were found stranded in the Sunderland Channel, anchored by the sunken tug.
One man aboard the barge was rescued by the coast guard cutter and taken to Kelsey Bay.
It's not unusual for a tugboat to pull two large barges, Stacey said, but it can be difficult during extreme weather.
"The good part of this is that there were no fatalities," he said.
The Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident.
Take only what you need.
