Rescuers retrieved a person from frigid Howe Sound waters Sunday afternoon after they went overboard on the Queen of Cowichan.
The ferry had been heading to Nanaimo from Horseshoe Bay when BC Ferries was notified of a person overboard 25 minutes into the voyage.
Boats in the area, Royal Canadian Marine SAR, the Canadian Coast Guard, a Royal Canadian Air Force Cormorant helicopter and Buffalo aircraft from Canadian Forces Base Comox, responded to what BC Ferries described as a “medical emergency” and retrieved the person just south of Bowen Island.
The person was taken by hovercraft to Vancouver’s Spanish Banks, transferred to ambulance and then hospital, said the coast guard.
The Queen of Cowichan was delayed by an hour due to the incident, said a BC Ferries statement.
The person’s condition is unknown.
– with files from Canadian Press and Louise Dickson, Times Colonist
Note: the story has been updated to include Royal Canadian Marine SAR among the rescuers
