Boaters rescued off Vancouver Island after fleeing burning vessel
Two people are safe after their 14-metre vessel caught fire and sank in rough seas off the north end of Vancouver Island.
The operators of the 14-metre pleasure craft issued a mayday call over marine radio around 1:30 p.m. Monday, according to a spokesperson for Canada’s Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC).
Military and coast guard personnel at the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria were unable to locate the source of the distress signal and subsequent attempts to make contact over the emergency channel went unanswered.
Coincidentally, a floatplane pilot who happened to be over the area spotted a large vessel burning near Egg Island, B.C., and called authorities to report that two people were in a rowboat apparently heading for shore.
A Buffalo search-and-rescue plane and a Cormorant helicopter were dispatched from Canadian Forces Base Comox, and the floatplane circled the scene for nearly an hour before the first rescuers arrived.
The Buffalo aircraft was first on scene and dropped a radio and a sea-rescue kit, including a life raft, down to the rowboat, according to MARPAC spokesperson Sub-Lt. Joshua Ehnisz.
A pair of coast guard vessels stationed two hours away in Port Hardy, B.C., were also sent to the scene.
The rescue plane remained over the area while the helicopter was re-routed after determining the two lifeboat occupants were the only people aboard the stricken vessel when the fire broke out.
A fishing boat picked up the two survivors approximately 15 minutes later. The duo were eventually transferred to a coast guard vessel and taken to Port Hardy.
The stranded boaters were uninjured and did not require medical attention, according MARPAC. Their 14-metre pleasure craft burned and sank as the coast guard arrived.
Ehnisz estimated the seas were 4.5 metres high at the time of the rescue.
Egg Island is approximately 40 kilometres north of Vancouver Island.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Former Air Canada employees among suspects identified in gold heist at Pearson Airport: police
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year, Peel Regional Police said Wednesday.
MPs summon ArriveCan contractor to the House to be admonished in rare parliamentary display
Enacting an extraordinarily rarely used parliamentary power, MPs have summoned an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon to be admonished publicly for failing to answer their questions.
'Enormous sum of money': Actor Hugh Grant settles privacy lawsuit against tabloid
British actor Hugh Grant has settled a lawsuit against the publisher of Rupert Murdoch's tabloid newspaper, The Sun, over claims journalists used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house, he said on Wednesday.
Gas prices across Ontario expected to climb to levels not seen since 2022, analyst says
Ontario is going to see a big jump at the pumps later this week as gas prices in the province hit levels not seen in nearly two years, according to one industry analyst.
U.K. plan to phase out smoking for good passes first hurdle
The British government's plan for a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking cleared its first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday despite vocal opposition from within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party.
O.J. Simpson was chilling with a beer on a couch before Easter, lawyer says. 2 weeks later he was dead
O.J. Simpson's last robust discussion with his longtime lawyer was just before Easter, at the country club home Simpson leased southwest of the Las Vegas Strip. About a week later, on April 5, a doctor said Simpson was 'transitioning.'
Some of the winners and losers in the 2024 federal budget
With a variety of fiscal and policy measures announced in the federal budget, winners include small businesses and fintech companies while losers include the tobacco industry and Canadian pension funds.
Father of boy accused of stabbing 2 Australian clerics saw no signs of extremism, Muslim leader says
The father of a boy accused of stabbing two Christian clerics in Australia saw no signs of his son’s extremism, a Muslim community leader said on Wednesday as police began arresting suspected rioters who besieged a Sydney church demanding revenge.
A wobble reveals the most massive stellar black hole in our galaxy
Astronomers have spotted the most massive known stellar black hole in the Milky Way galaxy after detecting an unusual wobble in space.