Safety board to release report on B.C. tug sinking that claimed two lives

A report into a deadly tug boat sinking off British Columbia’s north coast will be released today.

Transportation Safety Board chair Kathy Fox and Clifford Harvey, the director of marine investigations, will hold a news conference to reveal the findings on the sinking of the tug Ingenika in February 2021.

The tug was towing a barge and had a captain and two crew members aboard when it took on water and sank in Gardner Canal.

A search and rescue operation found one survivor on land, while the bodies of 58-year-old captain Troy Pearson and 25-year-old crew member Charley Cragg were recovered.

The barge was found not far from the site of the sinking, although the tug, which had 3,500 litres of diesel fuel in its tanks, has never been recovered.

Charges under the Workers Compensation Act were laid last month against the tug company, Wainwright Marine Services, and one of its senior officials, alleging violations of occupational health and safety regulations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2023.