Heartbroken girlfriend of B.C. captain tells of close call days before deadly sinking

The heartbroken girlfriend of a young charter boat captain feared drowned in a deadly sinking in B.C. waters last Sunday says she was aboard the vessel two days earlier when a broken door swung open and water flooded in.

Chen Ming, 23, was identified as being among the six people missing by both girlfriend Hailey Lee and Chen’s mother, Ashley Lin.

Lin said Chen had complained about the condition of the vessel, which she said was operated by a company known as Haishang in Chinese, and which The Canadian Press has identified as a firm operating under the English name Top Fishing.

Lin, who lives in Richmond, B.C., said her son was a very “responsible child” who took care of the whole family. He immigrated from China two years ago.

Lee and Lin both said in a tearful joint interview in Mandarin that there was a broken side door on the 30-foot boat that went down in deep waters with 10 people aboard.

Deadly B.C. boat sinking believed to have occurred in waters up to 180 metres deep

Four people were rescued with hypothermia. Police said no one was wearing a life jacket. 

Lee said she had been aboard on June 26, when waves forced the damaged door open and water poured in.

“We went out on a Friday and the waves were quite big, and the water started to flood into the boat due to the door,” said Lee.

“Two people on the boat immediately sprang into action by getting the water out, and the situation was under control at that time because people on the boat knew about the boat’s situation.”

Lin said she didn’t know if her son was properly licensed to captain a commercial charter vessel.

She said Chen was a selfless, caring child who took care of his family and friends, and “wouldn’t leave anyone behind.”

Lin said Chen became the pillar of the family after she got divorced in 2011, by working different jobs to pay rent and buy groceries. 

“I supported my son to continue to pursue his studies, but he said our family isn’t that wealthy, and ‘I want to support my family first,’” said Lin, calling Chen the “sweetest” child.

Her life had been a nightmare since Sunday, she said.

“I feel I am a very useless mother, that I can’t find my son. I really want him to tell me where I can find him. The ocean is so deep. Does my baby feel cold?”

Lin said she reached out to the owner of the company multiple times but was only told that police were investigating. She said she had never received any condolences from the owner.

6 still missing, 4 rescued after charter boat sinks in B.C.’s Georgia Strait

“I want this tragedy to raise awareness among all charter boating companies in B.C., and I also want the owner of the charter boat company to be brave, to be responsible by giving us an explanation,” she said.

Lin said she was speaking up to seek justice for her son and to avert similar tragedies.

She said her son had been planning to visit Lee’s hometown in Taiwan in September to meet her parents and discuss marriage. 

Lee said she got to know Chen last September, and he was “a genuinely kind” person. 

“He always used to tell me, being a captain, he should take care of everyone on the boat and not panic. He was super kind to me. Now I live in pain every day, “ said Lee. 

6 boaters still missing in Strait of Georgia as search and rescue operation suspended

Lin urged the owner of the charter firm to explain what happened.

“I wish the owner of the charter boat company would come forward to make a statement. You can’t let my son leave the world with so much regret,” she said.

A person who answered the phone to the company this week said they knew nothing about the incident before hanging up. Calls went unanswered on Friday.

Richmond RCMP said Friday it would not comment on Lin and Lee’s remarks.

The RCMP Underwater Recovery Team and West Coast Marine Services are using sonar to search for the charter boat that sank in what police have called “very deep waters” of between 150 and 180 metres.

The investigation into what happened is being led by the Richmond Serious Crimes Unit.

6 still missing, 4 rescued after charter boat sinks in B.C.’s Georgia Strait

The Canadian Press separately confirmed Top Fishing was the firm involved. It was identified by multiple charter operators who focus on the Chinese recreational fishing market, but they did not want to be named.

Images of the Top Fishing vessel, an aluminum boat made by Kingfisher, also match those shared on social media by Tim Milne, its former owner, when the boat was known as Big Coast.

Milne said the boat, which he sold more than four years ago through a dealer, was the one that sank.

He said the new owners never updated the boat’s automatic identification system, or AIS, which broadcasts information about a vessel, including its call sign and name, position and speed.

The vessel still bore the name linked to Milne’s ownership, “Big Coast,” when it sank. Milne says he learned of the tragedy when a concerned friend reached out after spotting AIS data that suggested the Big Coast was in distress.

“I was devastated,” Milne said in an interview. “Losing lives at sea is a worst-case scenario for people in our world.”

Milne said he used the boat without issue for four years.

“It was an awesome boat and extremely dependable,” he said.

He said Transport Canada contacted him last July to let him know Big Coast had been impounded. He received the notification because the AIS was still connected to his contact details.

The agency sent him a snapshot of the boat’s AIS location, and Milne said he noted it was in an illegal fishing area.

He said the boat could take 10 passengers in good conditions, although it’s not something he ever did himself.

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But he said the weather conditions at the time of the accident were “tricky,” and multiple weather events could stack up to create brutal conditions.

“We don’t hear of incidents like this on the coast very often. That’s why this is such an anomaly,” Milne said.

“Everybody’s definitely taken aback.”

Chen’s account with the Chinese social media platform Red Note is filled with photos and videos of his fishing adventures. Some comments offer condolences.