Deadly B.C. Boat Sinking Believed to Have Happened in Waters Up to 180 Metres Deep
Subhadarshi Tripathy
7/1/20262 min read
An RCMP underwater recovery team is searching for a capsized vessel that sank off the coast of Richmond, B.C., in waters believed to be as deep as 180 metres.
Police said Tuesday that the commercial charter boat is believed to have gone down in the Strait of Georgia in water between 150 and 180 metres deep.
For comparison, Living Shangri-La, Vancouver’s tallest building, is just under 201 metres tall.
Richmond RCMP Cpl. Frank Bryson said the depth means recovery teams will likely need to rely on specialized equipment.
“They are going to have to try and utilize some technology like underwater drones, things of that nature, with the recovery,” Bryson told Peazzi.
“I don’t think divers can go down deep, so they are going to have to use some of those tools.”
Six People Presumed Drowned
Four men and two women are presumed drowned after the boat sank on Sunday.
Four people were rescued.
As of Tuesday, two men and one woman remained in hospital, while one man had been released. Police had initially said Monday that two survivors had been discharged, but later clarified that health-care workers decided to keep one person in hospital as a precaution.
The Transportation Safety Board has also deployed a team to investigate the sinking.
Search for Survivors Suspended Sunday Night
The RCMP recovery operation began after the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria suspended its search for survivors around 9:45 p.m. Sunday.
Maj. Gregory Clarke, officer-in-charge of JRCC Victoria, said the centre’s role is to search for survivors, not to conduct recovery operations.
“Our primary mission is to search until ... all possibilities of finding survivors and people alive [have] been exhausted,” Clarke told Peazzi’s The Early Edition.
By nightfall Sunday, Clarke said crews believed they would have found any survivors on the surface of the water or along the shoreline.
The investigation has since been turned over to the RCMP, which has expertise in underwater recovery.
Families and Survivors Remain Priority
In an emailed statement Tuesday morning, Richmond RCMP said their priority is supporting the families of those who are missing, as well as the survivors.
Police described the case as a complex investigation involving several agencies.
They said more information will be shared as it becomes available.
Prime Minister Mark Carney also acknowledged the incident on social media Monday, saying his prayers were with those affected, including the missing, the people recovering and the families waiting for answers.
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