Disasters at Sea: Queen of the North
We’re trying something a little different here at Original Shipster for this season of Disasters at Sea. Every week, I’ll be writing an article about the vessel featured on that weeks episode. There’s only so much info you can pack into an hour long show, and I love getting into the nitty gritty of these stories, so why not combine the two?
This week we’re looking at the BC Ferry tragedy of the Queen of the North.
Nationality: Canadian
Length: 125m
Beam: 19.74m
Draught: 5.24m
Speed: 20 knots
Tonnage: 8,806 GT
Year: 1969
Capacity: 700 passengers, 115 cars
Queen of the North in port. Image from The National Post.
Built by AG Weser in Bremerhaven, Germany, the single-hulled RO/RO (roll on/roll off) ferry Stena Danica sailed into service in 1969. Operated by Stena Line, the Danica operated on a route between Sweden and Denmark until 1974, when BC Ferries purchased it for around $13 million. The ship was rechristened as Queen of Surrey and immediately put to work on the Horseshoe Bay-Nanaimo route. Unfortunately, the design of the vessel did not allow for the quick turnaround required on this busy route, and by 1976 it was retired from the run and left in a BC Ferry dockyard.
The “Inside Passage” ferry route. Image from BC Ferries.
The government decided that the ship was better suited to longer, less hectic runs, and put it in for a refit. $10 million and a new name (Queen of the North) later, the ship had staterooms and more restaurants, car capacity and cargo space. Over the years, BC Ferries would add other ships to their 36-vessel roster, but the Queen, even at fifth largest, remained the flagship and ultimate favourite of the brand. By 1985, the Queen was back in service on the “Inside Passage”, running from Port Hardy on Vancouver Island to Prince Rupert. This 15-hour route serviced smaller communities in the area as well as these two major hubs, and was a scenic trip past deep fjords, gorgeous rivers, and beautiful mountains covered in rainforest. It was on this route, and in these waters, that the Queen would eventually sink.
On March 22nd, 2006, the Queen of the North was making its way from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy. On this particular night, the vessel carried 101 passengers and crew on board, and from all accounts it was a routine trip. The weather was windy with some rain, but nothing the crew couldn’t handle, and as the light faded over Wright Sound, passengers began retiring to their cabins. By morning, they hoped, they’d be at Port Hardy and could finish their journey home.
On the bridge, Fourth Officer Karl Lilgert and Quartermaster Karen Briker were on duty. Lilgert, the navigation officer for the ship, was monitoring the vessels position and radioing ahead to the area’s traffic control. As the ship approached Sainty Point, a well-known marker along the route, Lilgert radioed that the vessel had made a necessary turn and was headed into the sound. This slight course correction was necessary to avoid Gil Island, which jutted out to the south of Sainty Point.
14 minutes later, he saw trees looming out of the darkness in front of the vessel.
The ship smashed into Gil Island going full speed, scraping and bumping along the rocky shoreline. Objects crashed to the deck and passengers were violently jolted awake. Water began pouring into the engine room immediately as, on the bridge, an officer ran to wake the captain. The Queen of the North was in trouble.
An immediate mayday was issued, but the initial coordinates reported by the crew put the ship on the wrong course. It took a few minutes for the crew to ascertain where they were, but when they finally provided traffic control with a location, a call for assistance was issued. The CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier received the call and immediately changed course to help, but they were an hour away. Fortunately, the Gitka’a’ata people of Hartley Bay First Nation, 20 minutes away, were able to assist. Numerous community members jumped into their fishing boats and headed for the Queen. Help was on the way.
Back on board, the situation continued to deteriorate. A few passengers and crew, trapped in their cabins by falling lockers or other objects, were freed by those heading up top. It became clear that the ship was going to disappear before help arrived, so the crew moved quickly to evacuate, launching the lifeboats and hurrying passengers aboard as the deck below them moved closer and closer towards the water. The captain performed a sweep of the decks, running down passageways, banging on doors, and calling out that everyone was to abandon ship. Eventually he, too, boarded a life raft and left the Queen of the North. He then sat and watched as the ship he had called “home” for years began to slip beneath the waves. Passengers reported hearing the crashes and rumbling as dishes, furniture, and vehicles slid towards the stern of the ship. The bow raised high out of the water and eventually disappeared from view.
The Queen of the North was gone, and the survivors had no choice but to drift and wait for rescue.
Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait long. The fishing vessels from Hartley Bay and the Coast Guard were quickly on site. The passengers were taken to Hartley Bay, where the community came together to offer warm clothes, cell phones to call family, and food. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief to be on solid ground again.
Everyone, that is, except for the captain.
No one seemed to be able to get a correct head count, and BC Ferries and the Transportation Safety Board were now aware of the loss of the Queen of the North and wanted answers – and numbers – as soon as possible. Eventually a roster was sent it to the Captain, and he tried to finalize his count. It was then he realized, to his horror, they were two people short.
The bodies of two passengers – Gerald Foisy and Shirley Rosette – were never recovered. The couple had been on a romantic getaway and were presumed lost in the sinking.
A number of red flags were raised during the investigation into the disaster. The coordinates that the crew had reported didn’t match the course the ship had taken into the side of Gil Island. A team was sent to the wreck site to recover the ships navigation computer, and a forensic team was able to extract the data they needed just seconds before the water-damaged hard drive fried itself. The data supported the investigation team’s hypothesis – that Fourth Officer Lilgert had never taken the turn he’d reported as he passed Saintly Point, nor had he made any move to correct the course for the fourteen minutes that followed.
The investigation found that human error was the cause of the accident. BC Ferries fired Captain Henthorne, Fourth Officer Lilgert, and Quartermaster Briker. Lilgert was later charged with two counts of criminal negligence causing death and sentenced to four years in prison after a jury trial in 2013. During his trial, Lilgert stated he could not explain why he hadn’t changed the ships course, and that he thought he had in order to avoid a smaller vessel. This was later revealed to be untrue, and the argument was made suggesting he had forgotten after he had radioed the change.
Another argument for the accident, and one that was favoured by both the Crown Prosecutor and the media was that Lilgert had been distracted on the bridge. It was revealed during the trial that Lilgert and Quartermaster Briker had been having an affair for months, but that it had ended before the accident happened. The Crown Prosecuter argued in court that Briker’s presence distracted Lilgert – that they were either having sex or arguing – which was why he did not correct the ships course. Both Briker and Lilgert denied that claim.
As is often the case after a tragic wreck, BC Ferries implemented new safety measures and training for all crew members. These measures included a new training simulator, the addition of a senior officer to all night watches, and two navigators to be on the bridge at all times on northern routes. As CEO Mike Corrigan said in an interview with CBC in 2016 “We took the darkest day in our history and we turned it into something positive”.
As for the ship itself, it still rests upright and in tact on the bottom of Wright Sound. An oil slick formed shortly after the sinking – both from the lubricants of the ship and the 16 cars it was carrying – which spread throughout the sound. The Coast Guard conducted an environmental assessment and issued containment measures in 2008, with the final report stating that no major damage appeared to have been caused by the wreck.
The stern of the ship, as seen by an ROV diving the wreck site. Image from the Transportation Safety Board.