Dozens of people had to be rescued after a whale watching vessel caught fire in the Strait of Georgia Tuesday morning.
The fire broke out on a boat owned by Wild Whales Vancouver at around 11:45 a.m., according to the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre. The vessel was heading out on a tour with 34 people on board at the time, and was about haflway between Vancouver and Nanaimo.
Four vessels responded to the boat's mayday call, and everyone was safely transferred onto a hovercraft and taken back to shore.
Rescue officials said crew members on the Wild Whales boat managed to put the fire out on their own, and the company is towing the damaged vessel back to Vancouver.
Wild Whales said a mechanical issue caused the fire, and that nobody on board was harmed.
