Wainwright Marine was back in Prince Rupert Court on Wednesday, the latest hearing into the tragic sinking of the tug Ingenika delivering guilty pleas from the North Coast marine service as a business and from its president.
Wainwright Marine Services and James Geoffrey Bates, the president of parent company Bates Properties Limited, were charged back in February on eight counts of violations of health and safety provisions.
Those charges came following an investigation into the circumstances of the sinking of the Wainwright Marine Tugboat Ingenika on February 10th 2022, that tragedy claimed the lives of Prince Rupert's Troy Pearson, the vessel's captain and crew member Charley Cragg of the Lower Mainland.
A third crew member, Zac Dolan managed to escape the sinking vessel, he was later rescued during the search response that took place along Gardner Canal near Kitimat.
In the Wednesday court appearance, the lawyer for Wainwright Marine entered guilty pleas for some but not all of the charges.
The company pled guilty to three of the eight charges it was facing, while Mr. Bates pled guilty to one. The remaining charges were put aside after the Crown Agreed to a stay towards them.
Those guilty pleas were in answer to the following charges:
Failure to maintain protective equipment and devices in good working order.
Failure to ensure the tow abort system and immersion suits were capable of performing their functions.
Failure to provide workers with training, instruction and supervision necessary for the job.
Failure to ensure new workers were given training specific to the use of personal protective equipment.
Failure to hold annual drills to ensure awareness of emergency procedures.
As part of the arrangement reached on Wednesday, Wainwright Marine and Bates could see fines of up to 310,000 dollars and the President, Mr. Bates would be required to perform community service. As part of the plea agreement he will not face any jail time.
The recent court appearances saw Judy Carlick Pearson, the wife of Troy and Genevieve Cragg, the mother of Charley provided victim impact statements to court.
Their words conveying the sense of loss that was shared by the families in these months and years since the tragic circumstance of February 2022 as well as their determination to seek justice on behalf of the two men.
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| Judy Carilck Pearson, Genevieve Cragg and MP Taylor Bachrach (from MP Bachrach's FB page) |
Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP, Taylor Bachrach has been with both families through much of their journey through the legal and safety board hearings processes, and on Wednesday he shared some of his thoughts on the courage that both families have shown through these last two years.
Some notes on the Wednesday court appearance and new information related to the February sinking can be reviewed below:
Tugboat owners plead guilty to safety charges connected to fatal sinking near Kitimat BC
BC marine company and its owner plead guilty to safety violations in deadly tugboat sinking
A look back at the history of the incident and the follow up investigations can be reviewed from our archive page.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
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