Boat owned by Jamie's Whaling Station runs aground near Tofino, B.C. | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Boat owned by Jamie's Whaling Station runs aground near Tofino, B.C.

Jamie's Whaling Station is shown in Tofino, B.C., Tuesday, October 27, 2015. Another boat owned by a whale-watching company in Tofino, B.C., has run into trouble off the coast of Vancouver Island. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Original Publication Date October 02, 2016 - 2:40 PM

TOFINO, B.C. - Another boat owned by a whale-watching company in Tofino, B.C., ran into trouble off the coast of Vancouver Island over the weekend.

The Canadian Coast Guard has issued a release saying the Stellar Sea hit the bottom and partially sank near Warn Bay, east of Tofino, late Saturday evening.

Jamie's Whaling Station, the company that owns the vessel issued a statement that said the boat was unable to move, but was not in danger of sinking.

It says 26 people and two crew members were on board when the slow-moving vessel ran aground during the final bear-watching tour of the day.

"Because the vessel could not continue with its voyage, all passengers were transferred onto other company vessels that were in the vicinity and safely returned to Tofino," the release says.

Both Jamie's Whaling Station and the Coast Guard say there were no injuries and there have been no reports of pollution.

The company says it resumed normal operations Sunday and expects the Stellar Sea will be returned to port shortly.

The incident comes nearly a year after another boat owned by Jamie's Whaling Station flipped, throwing 27 people into the water. Six people were killed.

The Transportation Safety Board is conducting an investigation to determine what caused the Leviathan II to capsize.

Two German brothers who were on the 20-metre vessel when it flipped on Oct. 25, 2015, have launched a proposed class-action lawsuit, accusing Jamie's Whaling Station of negligence for allowing the boat to go out in treacherous ocean conditions.

The company's owner, Jamie Bray, filed court documents in response saying the incident was an "act of God" that could not have been reasonably predicted or prevented.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2016
The Canadian Press

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