VANCOUVER , British Columbia — The head of BC Ferries dismissed Wednesday a former executive's allegation that safety warnings were ignored before the fatal sinking of the Queen of the North ferry last March on Canada 's Pacific Coast.
Chief executive David Hahn said former company safety chief Darin Bowland never approached him or other senior executives with warnings that BC Ferries, which operates services on the West Coast, was risking a serious accident unless safety protocols were improved immediately.
"Not at all," Hahn told CKNW Radio in Vancouver .
Bowland made the allegations in a wrongful dismissal lawsuit this week. He joined the government-owned ferry operator in January, but left several days after the Queen of the North sank on March 22.
The ferry hit an island about 75 miles south of Prince Rupert in British Columbia's Inside Passage - a route along the rugged Canadian coast that is traveled by thousands of cruise ship passengers each summer.
Ninety nine people were rescued in the accident, which occurred in the middle of the night, but two passengers are missing and presumed dead.
Hahn said Bowland never visited the Queen of the North during his time with the company.
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