Crashed tour boat passengers demand answers
Posted Aug 29, 2012 05:38:06 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Passengers are demanding answers after a Halifax harbour cruise ended with a crash.
The Murphy’s party boat, the Summer Bay, came to an abrupt halt in the waters off Eastern Passage Friday evening sending its passengers to the deck with a jolt.
“They are so lucky no one was thrown overboard, that’s how hard it hit,” passenger Shelley Burgess told News 95.7.
Burgess was one of 63 passengers aboard, who described the next few minutes as scary and shocking.
“Why didn’t the crew dispatch lifejackets immediately?” she questions. “The boat actually listed to one side. There was a lady who was absolutely panicking.”
At the time, Burgess said there was no explanation from the staff and crew and no direction. She said she was the one that asked to get out the lifejackets because the crew didn’t hand them out.
It was a passenger who called 9-11 and the operator conferenced in the coast guard to locate the vessel.
Burgess said all this happened in about 10 minutes, before the crew explained to the passengers what had happened.
Murphy’s said the boat hit a sandbar. A second boat was brought in to help the Summer Bay, and all the passengers were returned back to Halifax on their original vessel. Everyone was given a full refund for their tickets and their drinks.
Burgess said she’s not convinced the boat hit a sandbar. She’s questioning whether there was an equipment malfunction and how well the staff was trained.
“Even if part of their compensation was ‘we will bring you out on the harbour cruise. We’ll wine and dine you for four hours.’ I’m not going out there with their untrained staff,” said Burgess.
“The accountability doesn’t lie with the poor 18-year-old,” she said. “The blame lies with whoever put him in that position to begin with.”
She said she’s written her concerns in a letter to Murphy’s and is awaiting a reply.
