Mayor questions credibility of upcoming report into fatal sealing accident
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 | 11:02 PM NT
The Canadian Press
The coast guard icebreaker Sir William Alexander was towing the 12-metre trawler L'Acadien II when the small boat hit an ice block and capsized.
(Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)The mayor of the Iles de la Madeleine said Tuesday he has little faith that a final report into the sinking of a sealing boat earlier this year would answer lingering questions about the accident that claimed the lives of four men from his remote community.
Joel Arseneau said he was awaiting the release of the Transportation Safety Board's report Wednesday with anticipation and skepticism following an investigation he claims lost its credibility when the agency revealed it simulated the March mishap in ice-free waters at the height of summer.
Arseneau said he was stunned when he learned in August that the board conducted recreations of the incident in water that had none of the large ice cakes thought to have caused L'Acadien II to go down while under tow by a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker.
"I just hope that they're not stupid enough to think that you can recreate the same conditions in summer without any ice and come up with evidence or any conclusion that would be valid," he said Tuesday from his municipal office in Iles de la Madeleine.
"I can't believe that that will even be part of the report … It's like, who are you trying to kid?"
TSB confident in analysis of accident
But the board has said investigators were "very confident" they had a clear understanding of the events leading up to the capsizing, especially after monitoring the two separate sea trials carried out by the coast guard.
One of the simulations took place near Halifax harbour in June with another coast guard icebreaker towing a boat the same size as the 12-metre L'Acadien II.
The second was done in July using a different fishing boat and a sister ship to the Sir William Alexander, the coast guard icebreaker involved in the accident.
But Wayne Dickson, who witnessed the accident unfold as he trailed behind L'Acadien II in his own sealing boat, said the demonstrations couldn't possibly recreate the conditions of March 29.
Investigators said they didn't use ice or similar obstructions because both vessels had entered a pool of open water when the accident happened.
Anger report to be released in Halifax
Arseneau and Maxime Arseneau, the PQ representative for the windswept cluster of islands, said they were both angered that the independent federal agency has chosen to release the report in Halifax, rather than in the islands.
"It's kind of [like] they have no regard for the people from Magdalen Island and their families," said Maxime Arseneau.
"We think that they should come here. They should have compassion and there's a lot of questions remaining."
Maxime Arseneau said he will press for a public inquiry if he's not satisfied with the TSB report. The coast guard also appointed an independent investigator to look into the incident, but he has yet to complete his report.
"I will be really surprised if we have all the answers," he said.
Joel Arseneau said the report should include recommendations on towing practices to make sure an accident like this doesn't happen again.
Families will be briefed by the TSB on the islands Wednesday just before the report is released publicly.
Water rushed into boat as sealers slept
Dickson and two survivors aboard L'Acadien II said the Alexander began towing the boat through the ice after the smaller vessel lost its rudder and issued a call for help.
What appeared to be an uneventful tow ended when the big ship swerved to dodge a massive chunk of ice in the otherwise relatively clear waters.
The ice cake ended up in the direct path of L'Acadien II and flipped it almost immediately, but the icebreaker continued to tow it and apparently dragged it into the ocean.
Water rushed into the boat while three sealers, including the captain, slept in their bunks down below. Their bodies were later recovered from the vessel, while a fourth man who was on watch is still missing and presumed to have drowned.
Dickson, who was captaining the nearby Madelinot War Lord, and the survivors insist no one was monitoring the tow from the stern of the Alexander, as is recommended practice in the coast guard's manual.
But TSB investigators have said they have electronic data and anecdotal evidence to prove that crew members were observing the procedure.
Dickson also alleges that the icebreaker's lights suddenly went off as they were scanning the dark waters for survivors, and that no one on the icebreaker's deck responded to repeated, frantic calls to stop when the boat overturned.
