A group of whale watchers were rescued near Bowen Island in the Georgia Strait on Tuesday after an engine fire sparked on a vessel.
According to Wild Whales Vancouver, the incident happened just before noon on its 42-foot vessel, MV Jing Yu.
The Victoria-based Joint Rescue Coordination Centre said in a tweet that Canadian Coast Guard members responded to the engine fire with the help of officials from two BC Ferries vessels.
CONFIRMED: 35 people have been rescued after some sort of mechanical issue aboard a Wild Whales Adventure vessel near Bowen Island. More to come. @BlackPressMedia https://t.co/50RBAYj5Jr
— Ashley Wadhwani (@ashwadhwani) October 23, 2018
Company staff member Zoe Ward said the 32 passengers and two staff on board were removed from the boat by the Canadian Coast Guard and returned to shore in Vancouver.
It’s believed the engines went into overdrive and stopped working, “so we had some fumes” but no flames, Ward said.
#BCFHeadsUp Please be aware the #QueenofCowichan is currently delayed 25 minutes as the vessel was responding to a distress call. The vessel has since been released from responding and is now continuing on to #HorseshoeBay ^gl
— BC Ferries (@BCFerries) October 23, 2018
