A suspected mechanical failure on one of Toronto’s ferries, prompting an emergency stop, is keeping it out of service, but outside of the city’s own investigation there will be no independent investigation and it is one of many cases where this is the case is.
There have been eight incidents involving ferries in the city in the past decade, but only one of these has led to a major investigation by the Transport Safety Board (TSB).
The independent body’s mandate is to promote transport safety and although some incidents may be serious, it is not always involved.
Lija Bickis, from the TSB’s maritime division, said an average of 900 to 1,000 incidents at sea are reported every year, but not all of them are immediately and thoroughly assessed.
“Because our mandate promotes transportation safety, there may be instances where the circumstances of an occurrence are quite similar to a previous occurrence, in which case there may be no new lessons to be learned even if we investigate in detail,” Bickis said . .
The TSB has determined that the 2022 Sam McBride ferry crash, which injured several passengers, was a Class 2 occurrence. That prompted an investigation, which found last month that the City of Toronto’s safety protocols were lacking at the time of the crash.
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Seven other incidents involving Toronto ferries in the past decade were classified as Class 5 occurrences that do not require the same level of investigation.
The William Inglis, involved in last Thursday’s incident, was also involved in another accident last October when it struck a quay after losing propulsion. There were 188 people on board at the time and a crew member in the engine room was slightly injured.
In another Class 5 crash earlier this year, the Thomas Rennie crashed into the shore. The TSB report does not explicitly say where it happened, but the geolocators revealed that it struck a shore within Billy Bishop Airport’s maritime exclusion zone, an area marked by large white buoys intended to keep ships away for the safety of the airport activities.
Although the city reported the incident to the TSB and Transport Canada, it did not report it to the Port Authority, which owns and operates the airport.
“There is no legal obligation to report incidents to PortsToronto; Mostly, though, we let them know as a courtesy,” city spokesperson Nitish Bissonauth said in a written statement.
In this case, he said, it was not initially clear that the ship had entered the airport grounds, so it was not reported to the port authority.
However, the city could not clarify why PortsToronto was not notified in the months after the crash.
A spokesperson for PortsToronto said it was unfortunate that the city did not report the incident, preventing it from responding within a relevant time frame.
“It would have been our hope and expectation that the City of Toronto would have informed us as the owner and operator of the airport,” said spokesperson Jessica Pellerin. She said the crash occurred after the last flight of the day, which is why NAV Canada operators had not recorded the ferry raid.
The ferry incidents come at a time when the city is facing increased scrutiny over the operation of its aging fleet. The four ships range in age from approximately 60 to 140 years old. Two new electric ferries have been approved by the city council, but they are not expected to arrive for years.
Bissonauth emphasized that the city takes Class 5 incidents seriously. “The city conducts its own investigation each time, reviews safety protocols and implements all necessary measures to prevent recurrence of incidents,” he said.
However, the process by which the city approaches transparency following each municipal review of an incident remains unclear.
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