Tragic Anniversary – Sinking of the Tug Ingenika

Tragic Anniversary – Sinking of the tug Ingenika

Please join ILWU Local 400 Marine Section and General Workers, family, friends, and allies on February 10, 2026, at 12:30 p.m. at the Transport Canada offices, 800 Burrard St., Vancouver, BC, where we will gather to remember the deaths of Charley and Troy.

February 10 marks the 5th anniversary of the needless loss of the Ingenika and two of her crew, Charley Cragg and Troy Pearson. These workers died through the criminal negligence of their employer. ILWU Local 400 continues to strenuously call on the Federal Minister of Transport, Steven MacKinnon, to close loopholes on under-tonnage vessels and to immediately bring forward new regulations and enforcement capabilities that will make Canadian seafarers safer at sea and also protect a fragile coastal marine environment.

Canada currently has the lowest crewing levels in the world and is far behind worldwide best practices. This continues to put marine traffic and the livelihoods of our coastal Indigenous communities at risk.

While commercial trucks are inspected in high numbers, with half being detained during inspection, we see very few inspections and even fewer detentions in the marine sector. The lack of resources at Transport Canada to fulfill their mandate remains critically low. Their futile efforts at enforcement come down to a lack of people on the waterfront and no modern regulatory framework to rely on when issues are identified. Meanwhile, there is national pressure to open the North Coast of BC to increased marine traffic in an already treacherous body of water, with no increase in funding to deal with the added traffic and deteriorating weather conditions.

We needed change five years ago. Coastal communities and Canadian workers are still waiting, high and dry, while our government lurches from one crisis to another.

For further information, contact ILWU 400 President Jason Woods at 604-251-7174.