Five Britons have died after the whale-watching boat on which they were travelling capsized off the coast of western Canada, the Foreign Office has said.



The five, whose identities have not yet been confirmed, were among 27 passengers and crew on board the vessel when it sent out a distress call at about 5pm local time on Sunday near Tofino, a popular surfing and whale-watching resort on Vancouver Island, the coastguard said.

The dead Britons were a woman and four men, said the British Columbia coroner on Monday, three of whom were tourists, with the remaining two living in Canada. A spokeswoman said the authorities were still in the process of contacting their next of kin. The victims included an 18-year-old man and another man aged 76, she added.

A sixth person, whose nationality is unknown, remains unaccounted for. Eighteen others were taken to hospital, with several suffering from hypothermia Fourteen have since been discharged, while the remaining four are all in a stable condition, said Valerie Wilson, a spokeswoman for the Vancouver Island health authority.

Map Vancouver Island Map showing where boat sank off Vancouver Island, Canada

The boat, a 20-metre (65ft) cruising vessel called Leviathan II, was about seven miles off the western coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia when it sent a distress call to say it was sinking.



Coastguard vessels and military rescue aircraft were joined by local fishing and whaling boats in a search for survivors and debris. The operation resumed on Monday.

The owner and staff of Jamie’s Whaling Station, which operated the vessel, told a news conference in Tofino yesterday that the tragedy had left them traumatised and “dumbfounded”.

Director of Operations, Corene Inouye, said the boat had been operating normally on a route it had followed twice a day for the past 20 years. She could not say what caused the boat to capsize, but said it happened so fast, crew members were unable to send out a mayday signal, only managing to release flares from the water.

The captain had over 20 years of experience, 18 of those years at the company, Inouye said. The other two crew members were fully trained.

The owner, Jamie Bray, visibly upset, said he was “absolutely amazed” at the support the company had received over the past 24 hours. He said that although the area in which the boat sank does have a current running through it, there was no indication that yesterday’s sea would have been any different.

He said that passengers were not wearing lifejackets because Transport Canada advises against that when a vessel has an enclosed cabin. It would be very difficult to exit the cabin once lifejackets had activated on impact, he said.

Bray said that the Leviathan II had not lost power and was still in gear with its engine running when rescuers reached it.

Transport Canada said it had inspected the boat annually since 1998. It was last inspected on March 6 of this year. It has begun an investigation to verify that the boat was in compliance with the Canada Shipping Act at the time of the accident, including the presence of all required personal and technical safety equipment.

Canada’s federal Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has also sent investigators to the scene of the sinking, which took place in seas described as relatively rough but not unusual for the area.

Martin Moses, the owner of Clayoquot Wild Wildlife & Custom Tours, another Tofino whale-watching operator, told the Guardian that Sunday had been “a nice, beautiful sunny day with low wind”.

Nevertheless, Martin said he had opted to cut short his own whale-watching tour without taking the usual side trip to view sea lions at an area called Plover reefs, because of high seas.

“The sea was fairly high – around three or four metres. The outgoing tide can sometimes get pretty nasty out there. I’ve heard it described as a washing machine – when you have a swell, there’s a backlash that comes off the rocks.”

He said he had heard about the Leviathan II when he reached land, and had headed straight back out to join the search. By the time he reached the area, he said, the sea was calm, and he found only seat cushions from the boat and a backpack.

Mobile phone footage taken from a rescue boat showed the vessel, operated by a company called Jamie’s Whaling Station and Adventure Centres, partially capsized, its bow pointing upright while the remainder of the boat was submerged.

Lifejackets, handbags, clothing and other personal effects could be seen floating close by.

Boats from the nearby Ahoushat First Nation community were first to arrive on the scene, according to Tom Campbell, a local councillor who said he watched from the waterfront as rescuers brought several survivors ashore. He said his cousin pulled at least eight people from the water on to a boat.

“Their looks tell the whole story,” he told the Associated Press. “They look totally lost, shocked and lost.”

John Forde, who runs the Whale Centre, another whale-watching operation, said he had no idea how the boat could have sunk. “Over the course of a season and years we take out thousands and thousands of people on these trips in conditions similar [to this],” he said. “I have no idea what the issue was or what actually happened.”

Tofino fishing guide Lance Desilets said at least 12 rescue boats were already out on the water when he arrived after responding to the call for help.

“I saw a lot of personal belongings, a long diesel slick and the top 10ft of the Leviathan II sticking out of the water,” he said. “It’s a sad day for our community.”

Philip Hammond, the British foreign secretary, said in a statement: “My thoughts are with the family and friends of all those affected by this terrible accident. Consular staff in British Columbia are supporting the family members of those who have died and we will remain in close contact with Canadian authorities as further information becomes available.”

Justin Trudeau, Canada’s newly elected prime minister-designate, said he was shocked and saddened to hear of the tragedy, and offered continued support to those affected.

These are not the first deaths connected to Jamie’s Whaling Station tours. Two people died in March 1998, when the company’s boat Ocean Thunder was swamped by an unexpected wave, rolling the vessel and throwing all the passengers into the water. One passenger and the operator of the boat drowned.

An investigation found that the operator had taken the passengers to an area of reefs to take a look at the marine life, but had failed to “fully appreciate the conditions the boat would meet at the time of the accident in the turbulent waters in the vicinity of reefs”.

Investigators were also involved in 1996, after another boat operated by the company, Sharp Point, ran aground while running at full speed after the operator fell asleep at the controls. No one died in the incident, but the operator was treated for head injuries.



In a statement posted on the Jamie’s Whaling Station website, the owner said Sunday had been a tragic day.



Bray wrote: “Our entire team is heartbroken over this incident and our hearts go out to the families, friends and loved ones of everyone involved. We are doing everything we can to assist our passengers and staff through this difficult time. We are cooperating with investigators to determine exactly what happened.

“In the meantime, we want to extend our most sincere thank you to the first responders, rescue personnel and everyone from Tofino and the local First Nations communities who assisted with the response efforts.”