A medical emergency aboard the Northern Expedition resulted in the B-C Ferry diverting into Douglas Channel yesterday.  The ship was making its regular run from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy.

BC Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall says a crewmember of the ship required immediate care, sometime between 1:30 and 2 yesterday afternoon.

"There was a doctor on board who felt it was a life-threatening situation, that this woman should get to medical attention as soon as possible, so we did divert the Northern Expedition to Kitimat where we transfered the patient into our rescue boat to get her to shore to medical attention," Marshall explained.

There have been efforts by mayor Joanne Monaghan to establish some sort of ferry connection between Kitimat and Hartley Bay, so Marshall wanted to make sure people who saw the ferry sail into the Channel yesterday didn't get the wrong idea.

"We don't want to mislead anyone and let them think we were doing a dock trial or anything at Kitimat yesterday;  this was a very unusual medical situation -- a doctor on board did say it was life-threatening and that's the only reason why we went to Kitimat yesterday," she said, adding "the good news is it's my understanding that she is in stable condition."

The ship then resumed its journey to Port Hardy yesterday, where it arrived about four hours behind schedule. 

[photo courtesy of Frank Janas]