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AND WEST VANCOUVER

A WEST Vancouver woman has filed a civil suit in B.C.
Supreme court against a tour company in connection with a
dramatic June, 1984 shipwreck of the Royal Princess.

Catherine Newton was one of 14
passengers taking part in an an-
thropological tour aboard the $1.5
million luxury yacht, when it
began taking on water in rough
Hecate Strait seas.

ws Reporter

The passengers and six crew
abandoned ship and were rescued

from a life-raft by helicopter.

The Royal Princess, owned by a
Tacoma businessman and leased to
Ecosummer Canada Expeditions
Lid., subsequently flipped over. [ts
superstructure was sheared off.

Following the incident, the
owner said the Princess had been
shipwrecked twice before, and the
U.S. Coast Guard had said the
ship had not been properly in-
spected,

AS ROA

Newton, along with George and
Joanne MacDonald of Ottawa, has
filed suit against Ecosummer Ex-
peditions claiming damages for
negligence, breach of contract, loss
and injury. The suit was filed May
30.

Ecosummer manager Jim Allan
said Friday he was unaware of
Newton’s lawsuit. He said the
Princess, its passengers and crew
had been the Victims of inaccurate

dons

weather forecasting that had
predicted 1!5-knot winds for the
strait,

Instead, the tour had run into
30-foot seas and winds gusting to
70 knots, Allan said.

“One of these days somebody
will recognize the crew and what
they did,’ he said. ‘The condi-
were terrible and no. lives
were lost. They should be given an