BC Ferries has called off its search for two passengers of a ferry that sank early Wednesday in the choppy waters off the coast of British Columbia, handing the effort over to the RCMP.
The RCMP began treating the disappearance of Shirley Rossette and Gerald Foisey as a missing persons case late in the afternoon. The Canadian Coast Guard had been trying to track down their whereabouts.
Mark Stefanson, a spokesman for the ferry company, said there were a number of reports from passengers who said they saw Rossette and Foisey talking to people in Hartley Bay, where those aboard the Queen of the North ferry were taken after it sank.
Lifeboats used by passengers to flee the sinking ferry sit on the deck of a coast guard vessel on Wednesday as it leaves Hartley Bay, B.C. (CP Photo/Richard Lam)
The ferry corporation said the two are not among the 99 people on their way back to Prince Rupert, or who were airlifted to hospital Wednesday morning.
"We're trying to pin down where they are," Stefanson said, confirming that the two had been on the ferry.
Stefanson said the RCMP is trying to determine whether the two got a ride from a fisherman to Prince Rupert or decided to stay in Hartley Bay.
The Queen of the North was travelling south from Prince Rupert, B.C., when it hit a rock early Wednesday morning. (Photo courtesy BC Ferries)
Rossette and Foisey have not been officially accounted for since the overnight sinking of the Queen of the North about 135 kilometres south of Prince Rupert.
Earlier, the ferry's operator reported 99 passengers and crew members were rescued after the Queen of the North hit a rock shortly before 1 a.m. PST (4 a.m. EST). The vessel reportedly began to tip to one side before it sank off Gil Island in Wright Sound.
Eleven people were flown by helicopter to a Prince Rupert hospital and treated for minor injuries.
Queen of the North travels between Prince Rupert and Port Hardy in 2005. The vessel was making the 15-hour trip between the two cities when it went down. (Andrew Krueger/AP Photo)
The ship was completely submerged.
BC Ferries president David Hahn wouldn't speculate on what caused the accident.
The Queen of the North was about 135 kilometres south of Prince Rupert when it sank.
"I think something went catastrophically wrong," he said. "We'll have to dig through all the evidence. We don't want to draw any quick conclusions."
Rescue ships carried survivors to Hartley Bay, an isolated community of about 200 people south of Prince Rupert.
The passengers were being transported to Prince Rupert by the coast guard.
'All of a sudden all the lights went out'
Many passengers were asleep when the incident occurred about five hours into a 15-hour trip from Prince Rupert south to Port Hardy.
"We were in bed. I thought we were docking or something like that," said Jill Lawrence. "It didn't really seem like it was too much of a bump to me.
"The next thing you know, when I looked down, everything was all over the floor. Then we heard the alarm go, so we jumped out of bed and got out."
It took about an hour for the ferry to sink, giving passengers time to scramble into lifeboats in the rough waters, the coast guard spokeswoman said.
"All of a sudden, all the lights went out on the boat and somebody yelled and said, 'Somebody put a spotlight on it,'" said passenger Ryan MacDonald.
"And at that time, the nose of the boat was sticking straight up in the air and then it just went straight down and disappeared. It's something you'll never forget."
Fishing boats from nearby communities, a helicopter and several coast guard vessels responded to the distress call.
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About 80 men from Hartley Bay went out in their boats after someone picked up the ship's emergency call over the radio.
The 125-metre-long ship, which can hold up to 700 people and 115 cars, is one of the larger ferries in the provincially owned company's fleet.
Hahn flatly rejected the notion that the ferry may have been too large to navigate those particular waters.
"Not at all. Not even a remote chance. It's not that large compared to cruise ships. It's sailed [the area] many, many times over many, many years."
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The company has suspended service on the route, and the Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
Second accident in past year
BC Ferries made headlines in 2005 when a large passenger ferry ran aground near Vancouver.
Last June 30, a BC Ferries vessel lost power while docking and smashed into a marina in Horseshoe Bay, north of Vancouver. No one was injured but 22 pleasure boats were damaged or destroyed.
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Investigators blamed the incident on a problem with the ship's clutch.
Despite the two accidents in less than a year, Hahn says he's is confident in the fleet.
"In both cases, nobody really got hurt badly and no one got killed. I think it says that the crew is extremely well trained," he said. "I still think it's an incredibly safe system."
Ne faisant aucune victime, le traversier canadien (Colombie-Britannique) ''Queen of the North'' a coulé vers 00:43 en heurtant un rocher de l'île Gill vers Wright Sound. Le traversier a mis près d'une heure à couler laissant le temps aux passagers d'évacuer. Le bateau transportait 101 passagers et son équipage. Les secours rapides (bateaux de pêche et un hélicoptère) ont transporté les passagers à Hartley Bay sains et saufs.

Le ''Queen of the North'' n'était pas le bateau habituel de cette ligne. Cette ligne était normalement empruntée par le ''Queen of Prince Rupert'' moins gros.