Overview
- The nine-metre charter Top Ocean sank on June 28 in the Strait of Georgia with 10 people aboard, four were rescued and one later died while six are missing and feared drowned.
- Eyewitnesses on a passing sailboat radioed the first emergency call after seeing people in the water without lifejackets, and police estimate victims were in the water for about an hour before rescue teams arrived.
- An underwater drone located the Top Ocean on the sea floor near Roberts Bank in about 153 metres of water but RCMP said there was no sign of the six missing aboard.
- Transport Canada has detained the operator’s larger charter vessel for safety violations, citing that it was a pleasure craft used as a commercial passenger boat and lacked proper registration and markings.
- RCMP investigators are interviewing witnesses, reviewing earlier voyages and probing whether operator decisions or known defects such as a reported broken side door contributed to the sinking, which could prompt tighter enforcement of charter safety rules.