Safety communications related to TSB investigation M22A0258: July 2022 engine room fire of the passenger ferry Holiday Island

The occurrence

On July 22, 2022, a fire broke out in the engine room of the Holiday Island after a non-standard temporary repair made to the ferry’s fuel injection system failed and caused fuel to spray onto hot engine components and ignite. All passengers and non-essential crew members were safely evacuated, and a large-scale emergency response followed. Despite efforts from responders, the fire could not be extinguished, and the vessel was eventually abandoned. On July 24, 2022, once the fire had stopped, the vessel was towed to the Wood Islands terminal and later declared a constructive total loss.

Safety communications

Knowledge of the role and the scope of responsibilities of authorized representatives

An authorized representative (AR) is the personUnder Canadian law, a corporation is a separate legal person for the purposes of liability; thus, authorized representatives can be corporations. who is responsible for acting with respect to all matters relating to the vessel that are not otherwise assigned to another person. The AR must keep up with changes in safety knowledge, standards, and regulations. Where matters are assigned by regulation to another role, such as the master, the AR remains responsible for oversight of those matters. By default, the AR is an owner of the vessel. However, a vessel owner can delegate this role to a qualified person. The owner remains responsible for the acts and omissions of their AR.

The role of a vessel’s AR is described in sections 14 and 106 of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001 (CSA 2001). Specific duties are defined in the more than 30 regulations made under the act that refer to the AR. Understanding and keeping up with such a broad scope of responsibility can be a challenging and difficult task; ARs or their delegates may be experts in their own operations but are not typically experts in interpreting numerous, complex regulations that may exist in multiple versions and that may have differing application criteria.

The current definition of the role of the AR provides a clear path for oversight and enforcement. Transport Canada states that “the oversight regime is based on the legal responsibility of the AR to comply with regulations as stated under the CSA, 2001.” However, in addition to ensuring regulatory compliance, the AR or the AR’s delegate plays a proactive role in ensuring safety. Consequently, it is critical that they understand the scope of their role. Recent TSB investigations,TSB marine transportation safety investigations M22P0259, M20P0230, M20P0229, M18P0014, M16C0036 and M10F0003. articles in industry publications, and other information for vessel owners suggest that not all vessel owners or ARs understand the scope of the responsibility that is assigned the role. Even for larger vessels, the role of AR may still be perceived as an administrative contact.For example, see S. Chapelski, “Canadian Maritime Law: Increased Penalties and Responsibilities for Authorized Representatives of Vessels,” Norton Rose Fulbright (25 October 2023), at https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en/knowledge/publications/0dcf3bc6/canadian-maritime-law-increased-penalties-and-responsibilities (last accessed on 13 June 2025).

Transport Canada is responsible for administering the CSA 2001 and more than 40 associated regulations, most of which have the potential to apply to the role of AR. The regulations cover many topics and have been written over a period of decades. Accordingly, definitions can differ between regulations or the style of writing may change, making it very complex for ARs to access and comprehend their specific requirements.

Transport Canada communicates with the marine community via ship safety bulletins and maintains a distribution list where members can subscribe to receive updates, for example to technical publications (TPs). These publications and bulletins explain the responsibilities of the AR or related roles with respect to individual regulations or topics of interest. However, some ARs may not be aware of the availability of these safety documents.

Recognizing the complexity of the regulatory regime, Transport Canada also has voluntary programs for some vessel owners. These programs provide training and information, although they may not name ARs explicitly. For example, the Small Vessel Compliance Program (for vessels under 15 gross tonnage [GT], including tugs and fishing vessels) is described as “an easy-to-use tool that brings together all requirements for small non-pleasure vessels”Transport Canada, “Small Vessel Compliance Program,” at https://tc.canada.ca/en/programs/small-vessel-compliance-program (last accessed on 13 June 2025). to help vessel owners understand the scope of their responsibilities. For larger vessels, ARs are likely to be supported by an organization with access to more resources.

Transport Canada expects the AR to understand the role – that is, to take proactive measures to learn which regulations apply to their vessel and how to follow them. However, as this investigation and many others demonstrate, the role of AR is not clearly understood across many parts of the industry. If ARs do not have a clear understanding of the scope of their responsibilities with respect to safety, vessels may operate without the minimum defences provided by meeting regulatory requirements, increasing the risk of incidents and accidents. For this reason, the TSB recommends that