Submersible Retrieves Data, Takes Video from Sunken Ferry
An underwater video released Tuesday by B.C.'s Transportation Safety Board shows images from inside the sunken Queen of the North ferry during a dive by a remote-controlled submersible last month. The video shows the submersible's manipulator arms clearing the ferry deck of debris, breaking a bridge window to gain access and taking images of the controls. It also shows the submersible retrieving bridge computerized electronic systems that could shed light on what led to the fatal accident. The images from inside the vessel, which came to rest on the ocean floor a little over 1,400 feet were taken during a two-day dive by a submersible called an ROPOS (remotely operated platform for ocean science) operated by a Vancouver Island company, the Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility.
BC Ferries Commissions Independent Safety Review
BC Ferries has commissioned former Auditor General, George Morfitt, to conduct an independent review of BC Ferries’ safety policies, procedures and practices. David L. The review will assess BC Ferries’ compliance with the Canada Shipping Act’s regulations, codes and standards. It will also review the extent of the company’s compliance with its safety management system. George Morfitt and his team will collect information through management, union and employee interviews, reviewing documents, systems and processes, performing inspections and gathering relevant material from sources outside of BC Ferries. Work on the comprehensive safety audit will begin immediately and a report is expected to be provided to the BC Ferries’ Board of Directors and made public in late 2006.
BC Ferries Becomes Self Financing Company
As a Crown corporation, BC Ferries has been subjected to years of political interference in everything from rate setting to vessel construction and spending priorities. seriously inhibited the corporation’s ability to operate in a businesslike manner. however, the ferry corporation’s current structure inhibits access to the outside capital needed to make these investments. The new Coastal Ferry Act is designed to address these problems. Authority. A new, nine-member board with professional and business expertise will be established with representation from B.C.’s coastal regions in order to support the mandate of the new company. will be transformed into an independent, regulated company under the BC Company Act and renamed BC Ferry Services.
