A team of investigators with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is heading to Squamish to uncover why two marine vessels working at an LNG project crashed back in December 2024.
The announcement comes five weeks after the Dec. 18 collision. In a statement, the TSB said investigators will gather information and "assess the occurrence."
The TSB is an independent agency that investigates air, marine, pipeline, and rail transportation occurrences.
At 7:47 p.m. that day, the Haisla Northwind tug was towing a barge in Howe Sound when it crashed into a 22-foot North RiverSeahawk vessel at the Woodfibre LNG site.
A radio mayday call was heard claiming a man was overboard. He was rescued by a BC Marine Logistics vessel.
"One individual was sent for medical assessment and subsequently released," said Woodfibre LNG's spokesperson, Sean Beardow, in an email to The Squamish Chief at the time.
Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCM-SAR), Station 4-Squamish, sent five members on the water and two on the shore during the incident.
The collision caused a vessel that was carrying fuel to sink to a depth of approximately 200 metres.
A TSB spokesperson said there was a hydrocarbon sheen observed and that booms were deployed.
The Woodfibre LNG site is located approximately seven kilometres southwest of downtown Squamish, on the west side of Howe Sound.
According to the TSB, its sole aim is the advancement of transportation safety.
It notes it's not the TSB’s mandate to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability.
