Transportation Safety Board probes lifeboat incident off Vancouver that left 2 crew badly injured

A Transportation Safety Board team has been assigned to investigate a marine incident that seriously injured two crew members from a freighter moored off Vancouver.

A statement from the board says the team will examine why a lifeboat from the bulk carrier Blue Bosporus, moored in English Bay,was released from the ship on Dec. 1.

A coast guard statement issued Tuesday said the two crew members were hurt as they carried out a routine drill in the covered lifeboat.

The boat began to sink after it had dropped into the water and a vessel from the Kitsilano coast guard station was one of several that responded, rescuing the injured sailors.

In October 2000, three Ukrainian crew members died and one was hurt when a similar covered lifeboat fell about 15 metres into the water from a bulk carrier moored in English Bay.

A report by the safety board in 2003 identified issues with the lifeboat's lowering mechanism and the hooks connecting it to the launching equipment.