The Queen of the North Disaster: The Captain’s Story

Henthorne, the captain of the Queen of the North ferry, which sank off the coast of British Columbia in 2006, vividly recounts his experience of the tragedy. The ship struck an underwater ledge, which tore open its bottom, and it sank in just over an hour. Although 99 of the 101 people onboard were saved, two passengers were never found. How such a disaster happened on a route the ferry had traveled thousands of times was the subject of a major investigation. Henthorne recounts the sinking and rescue operation in painstaking and technical detail—the narrowness of the channels, the weather conditions, the lack of visibility in the night and the presence of other vessels in the water, challenges getting the lifeboats in the water, searching the ship for passengers, heroic efforts by crew and passengers during the evacuation, the terrible rumbling sound as all the vehicles onboard rolled off the car decks and plunged into the water, and watching his “beautiful ship” go down. Henthorne was honored for his courage on the night of the sinking but nonetheless, lost his job. This dramatic account will be of interest to those who remember the tragedy as well as readers interested in seafaring. (Mar.)