Toronto Island ferry service resumes - but only partially - after boat crashes into dock

Ferry service to and from the Toronto Islands has been partially restored after a boat struck the dock at the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal late Saturday afternoon.

The first ferries of the day to Ward’s Island and Hanlan’s Point departed at 7 a.m. Sunday.

In a series of tweets, Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation (PFR) said due to incident ferry service between the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Toronto Island will be operating on a "modified schedule" for the next several weeks.

The city is also advising passengers to "expect much longer than usual wait times for the remainder of the summer."

"Until further notice, there will be only three ferries operating between Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Toronto Island - two passenger-only vessels and one vehicle/passenger vessel. Unnecessary vehicular passage is discouraged," Toronto PFR said in a tweet. 

The Parks department, in a follow-up tweet, said the Sam McBride ferry, which was involved in the collision, has been taken out of service. As a result, people should expect slower-than-usual lineups, they said.

The incident happened shortly after 5 p.m. yesterday and injured 12 people, all of whom suffered minor injuries. Two children and three adults were taken to the hospital for treatment. Acting Supt. Victoria Pfuetzner, of Toronto Paramedic Services, said most injuries were to the knee.

"There was a collision with the boat as it was docking and that caused several passengers to fall forward, which resulted in their injuries," Toronto police Duty Insp. Lori Kranenburg told reporters at the scene.

She said there were 912 passengers and six crew on board the ferry at the time of the incident. The boat involved is the Sam McBride ferry.

Toronto Fire District Chief Steve Buckingham said 10 of their apparatus, including two fire boats, responded to the incident to initially help assist in disembarking passengers and triage injured individuals.

The cause of the crash is unknown.

The Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Transportation have been notified.

Following the incident, the City of Toronto, which operates the island ferries, announced ferry services wiuld be reduced ferry service for the remainder of the night. 

"City staff will be conducting a full investigation and, prior to resuming full operations, will require an inspector to sign off on the proper safety procedures and measures," a City of Toronto spokesperson said Saturday evening.

All affected ticket holders received a refund and ticket sales were suspended last night, they said.

Toronto Mayor John Tory thanked emergency responders and aoffered well wishes to thsoe who were injured.

Tory also said he "look(s) forward to understanding exactly how this happened and will support city staff taking any actions to prevent this from happening again."

-with files from Bryann Aguilar