The investigation into the sinking of a whale-watching boat in Canada which killed five Britons and an Australian is focusing on why the vessel proved so unstable when it was hit by a wave and capsized.
As the families of the victims and some of the 21 survivors arrived in the small west coast town of Tofino, Canada’s transportation safety board said the Leviathan II turned over while most of the passengers were gathered on the upper deck watching sea lions, making it top heavy.
“We know that most passengers were on the top deck on the port side,” said Marc-André Poisson, the board’s director of marine investigations. “This would have raised the centre of gravity, affecting the vessel’s stability. We also know that the sea conditions were such that a wave approached from the starboard quarter … We know that the vessel broached and then capsized.”
Poisson said the investigation was examining whether there was a flaw in the design of the Leviathan II or if it had been modified in any way to make it less stable and vulnerable to the wave that capsized it.
Although passengers moving to the upper deck is believed to have caused the shift in the centre of gravity, that could reasonably have been expected given the 20 metre-long boat was used to view whales.
“If we uncover serious safety deficiencies throughout this investigation, we won’t wait for the final report to make them known,” said Poisson.
The Leviathan II’s owner, Jamie Bray, said the vessel had made the same trip every day for 20 years without incident and that the skipper had 18 years’ experience.
Police divers were recovering the boat’s electronic equipment on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the search for the body of a missing 27-year-old Australian from Sydney, Rav Pillay, was called off because of bad weather.
A member of the police diving team hunting for Pillay, Constable Jim Preston, said other survivors had told their rescuers they tried in vain to hold on to the Australian in the water.
“It’s him or them. They let go or they just can’t hold him any more and he goes under. He’s goes straight down. They say the last thing that they saw is him disappearing into the water,” he said.
Pillay’s family was met at the airport near Tofino by his girlfriend, Danielle Hooker, whose father also died after the boat capsized.
The family of one of the victims, 29-year-old Katie Taylor, a UK citizen who lived in Whistler, a Canadian ski resort, issued a statement describing her as a “vibrant, outgoing and lovely young woman”.
“She will be very much missed by all of her family and many friends,” the statement, issued through the Foreign Office, said.
The other Britons who died were David Thomas, 50, and his 18-year-old son Stephen, from Swindon, Wiltshire; Jack Slater, 76, who lived in Toronto; and Nigel Hooker, 63, from Southampton.
Hooker’s two daughters, Danielle and Aimee, were on the boat with him. Danielle was the girlfriend of Pillay, the missing Australian. Pillay’s parents were travelling to Canada as the search for his body continued.
Hooker’s family issued a statement saying it was in “complete shock and disbelief and struggling to come to terms” with his death. Martin Wire, a neighbour of Hooker, described his death as a tragedy. Wire said: “He lived on his own but had visits from his family – three daughters, I believe. He was a very nice guy. I saw him last week going off on holiday, he certainly seemed to be an adventurous person. It’s a very sad situation, quite unbelievable.”
Airbus Defence and Space said Hooker worked in Portsmouth for its telecommunications satellite business. It said in a statement: “Nigel was a well-respected and popular colleague, and will be greatly missed by everyone he worked with. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
On Tuesday, Stephen Thomas’s brother, Paul, 22, a student, told the Swindon Advertiser that his mother, Julie, was also on board but survived with minor injuries.
Microsoft UK issued a statement paying tribute to David Thomas, who worked for the company.
The Down’s Syndrome Association UK described him as a “huge supporter” of the organisation. Stephen Thomas, who had Down’s syndrome, “was a very talented young man and a gifted photographer”, the association said in a statement. It said: “His love of photography started when he was eight years old. We were all delighted when Stephen’s beautiful image, Moraine Lake, won the national My Perspective photographic competition last year.”
Jack Slater’s daughter, Michele Slater Brown, paid tribute to her father on her Facebook page. She said: “Our dad was larger than life, a charmer, handsome, entrepreneur, engineer in the navy, he was 76 years old, he was our dad, our lovely dad, I will miss him forever but I’m grateful for all the times I spent with him, I love you dad.”
