TSAWWASSEN, BC –
Hundreds of BC Ferries passengers were stranded in the water for hours Thursday night and Friday morning after a major police incident aboard a vessel.
Police provided few details Friday, but said the incident somehow involved a missing person. Mounties in Nanaimo said they would release more information later in the morning.
CTV News reached out to BC Ferries for details, but was referred back to the RCMP.
The chaos unfolded aboard a sailing between Duke Point and Tsawwassen and has now put all travel on the day’s route at risk.
The incident began around 8:00 p.m., shortly after the Coastal Inspiration left Duke Point.
Witnesses say they saw a man in a black car yelling and throwing things out of his vehicle.
“After about 30 minutes of sailing … there was an announcement that there would be a reversal due to a medical emergency,” said Thomas Hazelman, who was on board at the time.
He said they waited about an hour before staff gave them further instructions.
“They made all the passengers go down to the car deck. So we all passed a car that was taped up — just a black car taped up surrounded by police,” Hazelman said.
Passengers told CTV News there was a heavy police presence.
“I happened to go to the front of that ship or when it docked and I saw the RCMP come in and they put a guy in there and he was in handcuffs when he walked away,” said Darren Dahl.
On the Tsawwassen side, Delta police said officers assisted in the investigation, but did not provide details on what that assistance included.
They were also at the ferry terminal on Friday morning, but that was to help with congestion and “help clear the traffic build-up” heading into the terminal.
FERRY IMPACTS ON FRIDAY
BC Ferries assumed multiple sailings would be affected on Friday, but as of 8:30 a.m. the company had only posted that the 6:15 a.m. trip had departed an hour late.
Another message warned of “anticipated sailing delays” affecting all voyages from Tsawwassen, including those to the Southern Gulf Islands, Swartz Bay (Victoria) and Duke Point (Nanaimo), as a result of Thursday’s incident.
In a social media post, the company said the following sailings are also at risk of cancellation, all of which are between Duke Point and Tsawwassen: 10:15 a.m., 12:45 p.m., 3:15 p.m., 5:45 p.m. h. , 20:15 and 22:45 hours
This is breaking news. Check back for more information.
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