Tug at fault in 2016 sinking off Nanaimo left unattended at full speed: TSB
NANAIMO — The Transportation Safety Board says a six-to-eight-second absence from the controls of a tug boat caused the sinking of another tug off Nanaimo.
A safety board report says the captain of the C.T. Titan left the tug going full speed ahead while he moved from the upper bridge to the wheelhouse and by the time he reached the controls, the boat had veered towards the vessel Albern.
The Titan’s master attempted to transfer propulsion control to the wheelhouse, but the report says he couldn’t do so in time and the 15-metre tug rammed the much smaller vessel in May 2016 in the Northumberland Channel.
The nine-metre Albern capsized and sank in the waters near Gabriola Island, temporarily trapping its two crew members under the water until they could escape and swim to the surface.