More than two years after the fatal sinking of the tugboat Ingenika, the company who operate the vessel has finally been sentenced for their role.
Wainwright Marine Services has been fined $295,000, while director James Geoffrey Bates was hit with an additional $15,000 fine.
Bates, who reached a plea deal to avoid jail time last month, will also be required to serve 100 hours of community service.
Initially, Bates and the company had faced 8 charges under the Workers’ Compensation Act, totalling $777,000 in fines, and six months of jail time.
In February of 2022, the Ingenika sank amid stormy waters near the Gardner Canal, claiming the lives of crew members Charley Cragg and Troy Pearson.
It had been pulling a barge full of equipment for Rio Tinto, but the tug had never been inspected in its 50 years of service.
That led to calls for regulatory changes as tugs weighing less than 15 tonnes are not currently required to undergo mandatory regular inspections.
Cragg and Pearson’s families still say the sentencing falls well short, and that it would have been far more severe had they been passengers instead of workers.
