Halloween Cruise Ends Suddenly
West Vancouver British Columbia
MV Abitibi - October 28, 2007
Passengers aboard the MV Abitibi for a costume mandatory Halloween cruise got the fright of their lives, as the ship ran aground, ending their cruise earlier than plannned.
The Abitibi was chartered by Triplesnake Entertainment for a costume party with DJ for about 360 passengers.
The Abitibi is a rather shallow draught cruise ship, about 147 feet in length, that operates in and around West Vancouver and the False Creek inner harbor.
The ship grounded about 1am after a 2.5 hour cruise.
The Abitibi is owned by Vancouver Cruises. General Russell Bennett said that most of the passengers aboard the Abitibi were picked up by another ship owned by Vancouver Cruises, the Gulfstream. About 60 passengers were still aboard after the initial evacuation.
The crew remained on the ship with the 60 remaining passengers until high tide floated them off. The ship then docked and disembarked the remaining passengers.
Upon inspection, the Abitibi was found to have no damage.
The ship was about one tenth of a mile from the dock when she grounded making for a short evacuation.
