Queen of Nanaimo: Loose Dowels did her in
Two loose dowel pins and poor shipboard communications led to a contact incident of BC Ferries Queen of Nanaimo on 3 August 2010, says an internal company report obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by the Vancouver Sun.
The incident, in which the vessel hit a dock at 5 knots, resulted in four injuries to passengers and six to employees.
Each of the vessel’s two controlled pitch propeller arrangements include two tapered dowels which secure the auxiliary servo piston and the lever on top of the Kamewa control post which moves the valve rod for the propeller hub. After the incident the two dowels in the port oil distributor box were missing.