BC Ferries says an incident in which a man threw one of its rescue boats overboard and jumped off a ferry cost the publicly-owned company around $40,000.

"BC Ferries knows that fare affordability is a concern of its customers and is looking at avenues to recover costs from the individual responsible," said spokeswoman Deborah Marshall in an email on Tuesday. The yet-to-be identified man has been banned for life from travelling on BC Ferries.

The sailing from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay is usually non-stop — but everything ground to a halt when a man jumped off deck six last Wednesday night.

Passengers on the Coastal Celebration and the passing Spirit of British Columbia watched in shock as a man released a 100-person rescue boat, jumped overboard as the ferry passed Galiano Island, and headed to shore.

The extra costs include repair of the damaged life-raft, a replacement life-raft, overtime pay for the crews on both ferries and extra fuel, said Marshall.

A search was launched for the mystery jumper, and RCMP say a man they later arrested, naked and incoherent, in a suspected cabin break-in on Galiano Island, was the same man who leapt from the ferry.