Inexperience may have caused Wolfe Island ferry mishap: union

There was a harrowing incident at the Wolfe Island ferry on Wednesday night, as witnesses say a passenger nearly plunged into the water and a dump truck almost went in too.

The ferry has had a rough few months due to a staffing shortage, and the ferry’s union says worker inexperience may have caused the mishap. 

Daniel Berry was driving the dump truck. He was coming off the ferry, when he says the boat, which was supposed to be attached to the dock, suddenly detached.

“As normal, the deck hands opened the gate, put the ramp down, the ramp hands signalled to go off,” says Berry. “I drove off the boat and as I drove off I heard a bang and felt the truck go down.”

It happened at 7:30 Wednesday night on the Wolfe Island side of the ferry dock, which is the only method of transportation for drivers and pedestrians between Kingston and Wolfe Island.

Berry says he managed to drive fast enough to avoid going into the water.

“With instinct I drove, got off and looked in the mirror and you could see what happened and the boat wasn’t there,” he says.

Randi Brown was a pedestrian on the boat as well.

“The boat was not tied up to the dock and when the first dump truck drove off I think it pushed the boat away from the dock,” she said.

She says as she was walking off, a man walking in front of her almost went into the water. 

“This man was holding onto what I think was the ramp, I’m not 100 per cent sure, but a whole bunch of pedestrians were trying to help him get back up onto the ramp,” she explains. “I’m not sure what would have happened if they hadn’t pulled him up.”

The ferry’s union says there was a mix of union and non-union members working on the boat. 

Lee MacLaren, the vice-president of OPSEU local 428, calls that a contributing factor. He says although non-union members members are licensed, they receive less on the ground training.

“Our members are all regular employees and who have gone through longer and more rigorous training than just two or three days of on the job training,” he explains. 

In a statement, a spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of Transportation says it takes the incident "very seriously."

"We are cooperating with Transport Canada and a full internal investigation will be conducted to determine the cause," the statement said.