VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 25 (UPI) -- The 2006 crash of a Canadian passenger ferry prompted its operator to forbid current or former lovers from being on the bridge at the same time, a judge said.
Canadian Judge Sunni Stromberg-Stein told a sentencing hearing BC Ferries issued the order after its Queen of the North struck Gil Island off Canada's Pacific coast on March 22, 2006, the Globe and Mail reported.
Stromberg-Stein sentenced navigation officer Kal Lilgert, 59, to four years in prison for the death of two passengers who disappeared in the crash.
She termed Lilgert's relationship with quartermaster Karen Briker, who was on the bridge with him at the time, a significant factor in the crash.
While the two were on the bridge together, the Queen of the North traveled for 14 minutes at full speed, without Mr. Lilgert, noticing that the ship was sailing straight for Gil Island, the judge said.
