Issue with brake cable involving rescue boat sent two workers into the water

Two round-trip sailings on the Spirit of Vancouver Island were cancelled Friday morning

TSAWWASSEN (NEWS 1130) – Four BC Ferries sailings between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay were cancelled this morning, after something went wrong during a safety drill.

The 7 a.m. departing from Swartz Bay, the 9 a.m. departing Tsawwassen, the 11 a.m. from Swartz Bay, and the 1 p.m. departing Tsawwassen were all affected, disrupting many people’s long weekend travel plans.

Jessica was supposed to be picking up one of her sister’s bridesmaids for a bachelorette weekend.

“We were supposed to go up early to set up… and she is two hours behind. Now, I feel like my sister is going to get to the Airbnb before us and [there will be] no decorations,” she tells NEWS 1130.

“We did have an incident this morning, when we were doing a safety drill,” says Deborah Marshall with BC Ferries. “We launched a rescue boat and unfortunately, it did not go as planned.”

It turns out there was an issue with a brake cable, and two workers went into the water. They were taken to the hospital.

FERRY UPDATE: BC Ferries says there was an issue with a brake cable involving the rescue boat on Spirit of Vancouver Island. Two employees plunged into the water. They were taken to hospital with minor injuries. @BT_Vancouver @CityNewsVAN @NEWS1130 — Greg Harper (@GS_Harper) August 31, 2018

The Spirit of Vancouver Island has been temporarily removed from service.

“We’re hoping to have that vessel back in service for the 3 p.m. sailing,” says Marshall. However, there are some significant delays for anyone trying to snag a spot.

Marshall says customers with reservations will be automatically refunded. “We will accommodate those customers on the next available sailing.”

She admits this isn’t great timing. “We’re going into the beginning of a long weekend. We do have extra service scheduled throughout the day, though. We’ve got 10 p.m. sailings [and] midnight sailings already scheduled.”

“We will make sure that we get all of our customers to where they want to go today, by the end of the day,” she promises.

– With files from Dean Recksiedler