Canadian Coast Guard captain fired for 'willfully' ignoring distress call: labour board
CBC
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.
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