The Canadian Coast Guard fired one of its captains on the grounds he “willfully” ignored a distress call about a sinking boat in cold and choppy P.E.I. waters, according to a recently posted federal labour board decision.
“His misconduct was significant, both in terms of the reputation of the coast guard and the consequences for public safety,” notes the decision from the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board, which was made public last week.
The case dates back to May 13, 2024, when the mussel boat Knot a Chance ran aground on a sandbar in the infamously dangerous Malpeque Harbour channel and started taking on water in rough seas. Another vessel tried to help and sent a mayday call, according to the decision.
The Canadian Coast Guard ship the S. Dudka was approximately 6.3 nautical miles north by northwest of the entrance to the harbour when the first mayday call was put out, but chugged along past the location for about 13 to 17 minutes, the document said.
In the meantime, the Knot a Chance crew members were facing a scary situation with the tide coming in and waves crashing into the mussel boat. The five men took refuge by climbing onto the roof of the boat as it took on water, according to news reports and video footage.
There were no medical issues or injuries reported among the crew at the time of the rescue.
“The waves were really, really big … they were lucky,” one firefighter who was part of the rescue told CBC News.
The coast guard fired captain Lou Callaghan for “willfully disregarding a distress call,” which he grieved — arguing he committed no wrongdoing because he believed coast guard vessels should wait to be tasked before responding to a distress call.
“He is wrong; all captains have a legal duty to respond to a distress call on receiving that call,” wrote Christopher Rootham, the adjudicator in this case, in dismissing that grievance.
Sitting at home on the southern side of the island, Callaghan said he was “railroaded” by the decision after two decades with the Canadian Coast Guard.
To this day he said he would still wait for direction before responding.
“You can’t just take off on a wild goose chase when you don’t have your co-ordinates,” he argued. “There’s got to be some management there.”
According to the timeline of events laid out in the decision, there were two mayday calls sent out: one from a fishing boat on behalf of Knot a Chance around 8:26 a.m. and one seven minutes later: a mayday relay call from the Marine Communications and Traffic Services Centre (MCTS), which provides marine radio communications and monitors vessel traffic.
During the hearing, the three other crew members testified they heard the first call but Callaghan denied that he did.
“We didn’t hear it,” he maintains today.
The adjudicator however accepted the other crew members’ side of the story.
RAW: Fishing boat takes on water off Malpeque Harbour
One of the deckhands also testified that Callaghan either turned off the radio or turned down its volume so he would not have to listen to the calls. Asked during cross-examination, the former captain offered three different answers.
“Regardless of which of Mr. Callaghan’s answers I believe, he did something to reduce the volume of the mayday call in the middle of a mayday situation,” Rootham wrote.
“I might have turned it down a touch if it was too loud, but enough that I could hear it,” Callaghan told CBC News this week.
According to the decision, the second mayday call, at 8:33 a.m., relayed the co-ordinates of the Knot a Chance.
A recording played during the hearing showed Callaghan called marine communications at around 8:43 a.m. to ask whether everything was under control and was told “if you’re able to assist that would be great.”
It was between 8:51 a.m. and 8:55 a.m. when the ship changed course and headed toward the sinking mussel boat, according to the evidence in the case.
“He stopped, waited over five minutes to be told to help a second time, turned around and proceeded to Malpeque Harbour,” wrote Rootham.
During the hearing Callaghan testified that there was not very much that his ship could have done, an argument Rootham didn’t find convincing.
“At the very least, they could have pulled the occupants out of the open-air boat sent to rescue them and kept them in the warmer cabin of the CCGS S. Dudka,” said Rootham.
Callaghan argued he had an inexperienced crew, a faulty radio and that the Dudka also risked running aground in the channel.
“It wasn’t a really good situation for that boat,” he said in an interview.
The coast guard successfully fought the grievance asking the Rootham to consider three factors: the risk of future lives at stake, the reputation of the Canadian Coast Guard and the general trust of the public.
“Everyone got lucky; that does not excuse the misconduct,” Rootham wrote.
Aldo Chircop, a professor at the Marine & Environmental Law Institute at Dalhousie University, said the rules of the sea are clear.
“The duty of ship and its captain to render assistance to ships or persons in distress at sea is a longstanding rule of international maritime law and the law of the sea,” he said.
“The captain of a ship in Canadian waters is under a legal duty to respond to distress calls under Section 131 of the Canada Shipping Act, which applies the related rule in the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.”
A coast guard spokesperson said the decision reinforces the high standard of professionalism it demands from its personnel and stressed the requirement to render assistance to those in distress “is the cornerstone of our mandate.”
“In the Canadian Coast Guard, our motto is Safety First, Service Always. When a mayday is heard, there is no higher authority than the immediate obligation to save lives,” said Craig Macartney.
“We have thousands of dedicated individuals who risk their lives daily to uphold our mandate.”
Callaghan said he feels like the scapegoat for bigger issues in the harbour.
“There’s always been problems in that harbor, shifting sands and fishing boats going to ground for years upon years,” he said.
At age 73, he’s not sure what comes next for him.
“I am up in years and I probably wasn’t going to work forever, but I just didn’t want to go out this way,” he said.
“I thought it was a poor way to go.”
