(VANCOUVER, British Columbia) — A team from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has been assigned to investigate an lifeboat incident that seriously injured two crewmembers from a freighter moored off Vancouver, CBC News reported.
The TSB will examine why the enclosed lifeboat on the bulk carrier Blue Bosporus, moored in English Bay, was released from the ship on Dec. 1. The Canadian Coast Guard said the two crewmembers were injured as they carried out a routine drill.
The lifeboat began to sink after it had dropped into the water and a vessel from the Kitsilano Coast Guard station was one of several that responded, rescuing the injured mariners.
In October 2000, three Ukrainian crewmembers died and one was injured when a similar enclosed lifeboat fell about 50 feet into the water from a bulk carrier moored in English Bay.
A report by the TSB in 2003 identified issues with the lifeboat’s lowering mechanism and the hooks connecting it to the launching equipment.
