BC Ferries completes internal report on Queen of the North sinking

BC Ferries president and CEO David Hahn says he now knows why the Queen of the North ran into an island and sank off B.C.'s North Coast south of Prince Rupert last March with 101 passengers and crew aboard.

Ninety-nine people managed to get to safety when the ferry started to sink. Two people are still missing, but have yet to be declared legally dead.

BC Ferries has conducted its own investigation into the sinking, and Hahn said he plans to go public with its findings within a week.

When two crew members refused to participate, they were suspended without pay. But even without their co-operation, Hahn said the internal report has met its goals.

"We're comfortable with what we're going to report. There's some gaps out there, with a lack of communication back to us from specific members. But, all in all, I think we know what happened."

Hahn said he believes releasing the report will enhance public confidence in the ferry corporation.

"We've taken the approach from the beginning that the more the public knows, the higher confidence level they'll have in the system. I think we'll probably be as hard or harder on ourselves than TSB [Transportation Safety Board]."

The TSB report isn't expected to be released for two months.

Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the sinking.