16 December 2022
Director General
Marine Safety and Security
Transport Canada
Re :
Marine Transportation Safety Letter 03/22 (occurrence M20P0229)
Regulatory Compliance of Fishing Vessels above 15GT
On 11 August 2020, the fishing vessel Arctic Fox II reported taking on water. The 3 crew members abandoned the vessel approximately 77 nautical miles southwest of Bamfield, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. There was one survivor, who was recovered from the vessel’s life raft. The Board released its report into the loss of the vessel on November 8, 2022.
In the report, the Board listed 6 causes and contributing factors to the occurrence. One of these was that insufficient preventive and periodic vessel maintenance and the absence of regulatory oversight to ensure that the vessel was seaworthy contributed to the vessel taking on water and eventually sinking. As noted in the report, the Arctic Fox II was issued a licence to harvest marine resources by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and was registered with Transport Canada (TC). However, it did not have the required TC inspection certificate and there had been no inspection requested. Although the vessel’s registration and DFO licencing information was available to TC, there was no trigger to initiate a vessel inspection for compliance or certification.
More broadly, the investigation reviewed data from both DFO and TC, which showed that in 2019 in the province of British Columbia, 78 fishing vessels (including the Arctic Fox II) were issued licences by DFO and were actively fishing commercially, but they did not have the required vessel inspection certificate. This apparent operation of fishing vessels in non-compliance with the Vessel Safety Certificates Regulations was determined by an analysis of the data readily available from DFO and TC. It is possible that many fishing vessels across the country, notably those above the threshold for certification, are operating in this manner.
The above information is provided for your information and to assist you to act as deemed appropriate. The TSB would appreciate being advised of any action that is taken in this regard.
Regards,
Original signed by
Clifford Harvey
Director, Marine Investigations
Transportation Safety Board of Canada