Ferry crash report exposes safety failures

Numerous concerns raised by probe into 2022 incident

- FRANCINE KOPUN

Speed and equipment failure caused the Sam McBride ferry, filled to capacity with 910 passengers, to crash into the docks at the Jack Layton terminal on a busy summer day in 2022, according to a Canada Transportation Safety Board report released Monday.

The captain was running the boat faster than he had been earlier in the day — perhaps influenced by the fact that the ferry was behind schedule — and only one of the vessel’s two propellers was turning as it approached the dock, according to a TSB investigation.

The propellers can be used to help stop the boat.

“It’s a multi-layered thing,” said investigator Étienne Séguin-Bertrand, speaking after Monday’s news conference. “If he hadn’t been going faster, we might not be here. If the propeller had engaged, we wouldn’t be here.”

Investigators were unable to replicate the problem with the propeller in subsequent testing, he said.

Both the ferry’s engines and their control systems were also found to be in good working order.

A city spokesperson would not say whether the captain had been disciplined but confirmed that he is no longer employed by the city.

The investigation uncovered numerous problems with passenger safety management and emergency preparedness on the McBride, among them:

■ There were only 183 life jackets for children, and there were times when the number of children exceeded that amount. The requirement is one child life-jacket for each child on board.

■ The city was operating the Sam McBride with a crew of six instead of the minimum 13 recommended by Transport Canada in 2009 — with the consent of Transport Canada.

■ The TSB found no evidence that a safety drill had ever been conducted that involved a large number of people representing the vessel’s maximum capacity. An emergency drill in 2018 involved only 50 people acting as passengers.