BC Ferry Sinks ..........

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A ferry carrying 101 passengers and crew ran aground and sank in bad weather off the Pacific coast just after midnight on Wednesday, but all aboard are believed safe, officials said.

The Queen of the North hit a rock at about 12:43 a.m. Pacific Time near Gil Island, about 75 miles south of Prince Rupert, and not far from the village of Hartley Bay, which sent fishing boats to help with the rescue.

All 59 passengers and 42 crew members were able to get into life boats and escape the sinking ship, said BC Ferries Corp., a provincially-owned company.

No serious injuries were reported. Initial reports had said 102 people were aboard the ship.

A Canadian Coast Guard boat was on patrol in the area and was quickly able to respond to the ferry's distress call, officials said.

[ronny1980]

Glad to know all is safe.

[mart242]

59 passengers and 42 crew? Wow. I'm sure that's cost effective.

[FastFokker]

59 passengers and 42 crew? Wow. I'm sure that's cost effective.

Wouldn't the ship require nearly the same number of crew, regardless of how many passengers come aboard?

It sank around 1am, that doesn't exactly sound like a prime time.

The ship can actually hold 700 passengers.

[mart242]

Wouldn't the ship require nearly the same number of crew, regardless of how many passengers come aboard?

It sank around 1am, that doesn't exactly sound like a prime time.

The ship can actually hold 700 passengers.

It depends on what the crew is doing. A few people in the cabin, a few at the gates, ... If there are only a few passengers, you don't need as many people for services (food and cleanup). 42 crew seems high.

[Rehan]

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...2154&t=TS_Home says "Nicole Robinson, a receptionist at the nursing station in Hartley Bay, said she talked to several members of the ferry’s crew who were sleeping when the ship began to take on water."

So some of the crew members were sleeping at the time of the accident.

[FastFokker]

It depends on what the crew is doing. A few people in the cabin, a few at the gates, ... If there are only a few passengers, you don't need as many people for services (food and cleanup). 42 crew seems high.

Maybe half the crew weren't even on duty at the time and they were just returning home or something.. who knows!

Maybe if there was less crew on board, there would have been more injuries or some fatalities.. who knows!

You should go apply for this job Mart242:
http://jobs.bcferries.bc.ca/details/?postingID=605

Your responsibilities include managing the local level crewing online system; supporting the short and long term planning and resource allocation; planning and scheduling the resource pool; and supporting recruitment activity, training plans, and operational needs analysis of the organization.

You seem to be very knowledgeable.

Either way, glad to hear nobody was hurt bad or died.. hope no pets were in any of the vehicles.

[700mb80min]

I live a stones throw away from Marine Atlantic and i have travelled to NFLD a few times . From what i can remember , there was about 30 staff on board for a 4hr run each way . Between the captain , 1st and 2nd mates , kitchen staff , bartenders , stewards , cleaners , engine room staff , steveadores , help desk , traffic personnel , etc . it doesn`t take long to have a large crew. My figure was an educated guess but close , and i can find out the actual number as i have a few friends who work there.

[Rometiklan]

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...2154&t=TS_Home says "Nicole Robinson, a receptionist at the nursing station in Hartley Bay, said she talked to several members of the ferry’s crew who were sleeping when the ship began to take on water."

So some of the crew members were sleeping at the time of the accident.

Was the guy at the helm also asleep?

[charger]

That ship has the most musty carpets and had such a lacklustre arcade. Think of it as an insurance boost to the provincial economy

[Shaner]

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...2154&t=TS_Home says "Nicole Robinson, a receptionist at the nursing station in Hartley Bay, said she talked to several members of the ferry’s crew who were sleeping when the ship began to take on water."

So some of the crew members were sleeping at the time of the accident.

It's a 450 km trip I believe, so the fact that some of them were sleeping doesn't alarm me as much as in most other cases of sleeping on the job. It's quite possibly most of the boat was sleeping, passengers and some staff.

I bet it's the same on trains that go overnight, a lot of the staff sleep.

[Shaner]

Also, what most people don't realize is there are regulations regarding ferries that dictate how much staff must be present on a boat at all times, regardless of the number of passengers.
Considering this boat can hold 700 passengers, 50 or so staff members don't seem that unreasonable and could possibly be around the minimum as is required by law.

[lithiumli]

now that's some good service

59 passengers and 42 crew? Wow. I'm sure that's cost effective.

[Montague]

Considering this boat can hold 700 passengers, 50 or so staff members don't seem that unreasonable and could possibly be around the minimum as is required by law.

Could be also dictated by the collective bargaining agreement (minimum staff levels).