According to the Transportation Safety Board, a series of errors led to a rented pleasure boat nearly colliding with a large cargo ship in Vancouver Harbor nearly two years ago.

In October 2022, the operator of the smaller boat – rented from Granville Island Boat Rentals – failed to see the larger vessel, the Saga Beija-Flor, coming. The pleasure craft eventually capsized and all three people and two dogs on board fell into the water.

“The pleasure craft capsized, likely due to the bow wave of the cargo ship,” the TSB wrote in its report published on August 14, 2024.

The three people were helped out of the water by other boats in the area and taken to hospital; the dogs were never found.

The TSB report found that the rental company had told the renter to stay one kilometre offshore, so that was where he focused. The boater “navigated towards the middle of the channel and directly crossed the path of the Saga Beija-Flor,” the TSB explains, adding that he was “unaware of the need to search the vessel’s surroundings and therefore” did not notice the cargo ship approaching the boat from behind.

Meanwhile, the Saga Beija-Flor violated regulations that required the crew to post a special lookout to avoid precisely such situations.

“In addition, the clear weather on the day of the incident was a factor that affected the vigilance of the bridge crew and reduced their need to maintain continuous radar surveillance. As a result, the pleasure craft was not detected by the cargo vessel as it approached and capsized,” the TSB said.

Granville Island Boat Rentals simply requires renters to complete a safety checklist before using their boats. The company has since added instructions for operators to be on the lookout for surrounding boats and to make way for larger boats.