Toronto Island ferry cleared for return to service following weekend crash

The Toronto Islands ferry that crashed into the dock at the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal late Saturday is re-entering regular service Wednesday following a “final series of checks.”

On Monday afternoon, following a “comprehensive inspection” by industry safety experts, the City of Toronto said they received clearance from Transport Canada for the Sam McBride ferry to resume its duties following the collision, which injured 12 people, including two children.

The city, which operates the island ferries and is conducting its own internal investigation into the “hard docking” incident, initially hadn't provided an exact timeline as to when service will resume.

In a tweet, posted shortly before 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, officials announced said the vessel would resume full service tomorrow.

This morning, Transportation Safety Board investigator Pearse Flynn gave an update on the investigation into the incident, which he said doesn’t aim to assign fault or blame, but instead has the goal of identifying if there were “any issues in the whole transportation system” that could have contributed to the crash.

He said this incident did not cause any “significant damage” to the boat and no pollution was reported either.

 

Currently, a team of five investigations from the independent agency, which probes air, marine, pipeline, and rail transportation occurrences with the sole purpose of advancing of transportation safety, have been assigned to this case.

Flynn said in the initial “field phase” of the investigation they’ll be collecting data, conducting witness interviews, examining and taking photos of the vessel as well as looking at maintenance history, operating procedures, policies, equipment and operations, and regulatory requirements.

Once said once data collection is done, investigators will work on building a sequence of events to help them “determine what happened and why.”

From there, the agency will examine and analyse its findings and prepare a report that will be released to the public “as quickly as possible.”

“At this point, it's still too early to say what the cause including factors are for this occurrence. Investigators need to examine all of the available data before we draw any conclusions,” Flynn said.

“The TSP will work with Toronto marine services, law enforcement and other government and non governmental agencies to ensure that those affected are provided with information about the accident and on the next steps.”

Any ferry passengers or witnesses to the crash, especially those with photos or videos, are being asked to contact the TSB at [e-mail].

Ferry service to Toronto Island will be reduced for the rest of the summer following a weekend collision at the downtown terminal that injured a dozen people. The Toronto skyline is seen from a ferry on Friday, August 28, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Joe O'Connal

The City of Toronto, meanwhile, said it “welcomes” TSB’s safety review and is “fully cooperating” with it.

“Safety is paramount in all the city does,” they said, adding their “top priority is to protect the safety of the public, passengers and staff by ensuring that our ferry vessels meet Transport Canada safety standards and have required certificates, including the annual Transport Canada safety and security certificate that was issued on June 21, 2022 and the engine and transmission inspection which was last issued on August 10, 2022.”

Speaking to reporters following an Emancipation Month flag raising event, Mayor John Tory said Toronto’s fleet of ferries has served the city for several decades and the TSB has made no suggestion “whatsoever” that mechanical failure related to the age of these vessels is to blame for last Saturday’s crash.

Noting that a procurement process is currently underway to look into the cost of buying new ferries, he said the ferries currently in use of just fine, as confirmed by the Transportation Safety Board.

Tory said in the meantime an investigation is being done to determine the cause of the incident.

“I’m just pleased that we’re now fairly quickly able to restore service and not have people at this time of the year when they enjoy being at the Island suffering from long lineups or anything like that,” he added.

Toronto police along with the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Transportation are also currently investigating the Aug. 20 incident, which resulted in reduced passenger capacity for the ferry service between the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Toronto Island.

Currently, only three ferries – two passenger-only vessels and one vehicle/passenger vessel – are operating between the terminal and the Toronto Islands.

Anyone trying to take a city-run ferry to and from the Toronto Islands should expect longer than normal wait times.

“Unnecessary vehicular passage is discouraged," the city said in an Aug. 21 tweet.

All schedules for City of Toronto ferries can be viewed online.