Ferry Sinks Off Canada’s Pacific Coast

PRINCE RUPERT, Canada â€”  Fishermen and coast guard crews rushed to rescue 101 people aboard a ferry sinking in rough weather near Vancouver Island early Wednesday. Authorities said all were believed to have escaped safely and injuries were minor.

The 409-foot Queen of the North hit a rock about 12:30 a.m. off the Queen Charlotte Islands, about 85 miles south of Prince Rupert, a British Columbia mainland town near the southern tip of Alaska.

Passengers described being jolted awake by a loud noise, followed by the ship’s alarm. They said they watched from lifeboats in rough water as the ferry went down. Rescue agency spokeswoman Capt. Leah Byrne said that it took about an hour for the ship to sink.

Some of the crew members said they had been asleep when the accident occurred, said Nicole Robinson, a receptionist at a hospital nursing station in Hartley Bay, a town about 75 miles southeast of Prince Rupert. “They heard a loud bang like it grinded a bit, and they said the cabin started filling with water,� she said.

Hartley Bay residents, in fishing vessels and speedboats, joined rescue crews in a coast guard icebreaker in pulling the ferry’s passengers and crew from life rafts. “Most of the guys went out and got their boats running right away, and they took people in by groups,� said Shelby Robinson, a 13-year-old resident.

Nicole Robinson said, “The community all got together with blankets. Everybody’s pretty cold, but they’re all down at a community hall.�

Coast guard spokeswoman Lara Sloan said a search continued in case passengers were missed, but “everything we have heard is that all the passengers are accounted for.�

The ferry, built in 1969 and renovated in 2001, had a capacity of 700 people and 115 vehicles. It operated year-round between Prince Rupert and Port Hardy on northern Vancouver Island.