B.C. Approves New Ferries

The B.C. government treasury board approved funding for three replacement ferries on its north coast routes on March 22, the same day Premier Gordon Campbell flew up to the site of the first-ever sinking of a BC Ferry. The Queen of the North sank after apparently hitting a rock at 12:43 a.m. Its 99 passengers and crew were safely evacuated to lifeboats and picked up within two hours by a Canadian Coast Guard vessel patrolling in the area. The incident took place in Wright Sound, after an 8 p.m. departure from Prince Rupert on the 274 km trip down the Inside Passage to Port Hardy. (Source: Peninsula News Review)