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Man arrested after BC Ferries worker sexually assaulted aboard vessel

The company has ‘a zero tolerance policy for abuse of its employees,” says BC Ferries vice president
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A man was arrested after a BC Ferries worker was assaulted on board the Coastal Celebration vessel in Tsawwassen on Oct. 22. (Black Press Media file photo)

A man has been arrested after a BC Ferries worker was sexually assaulted while working aboard a vessel while sailing between Victoria to Tsawwassen this week.

Delta police were called to the ferry terminal in Tsawwassen on Tuesday evening after an incident on board the Coastal Celebration vessel.

Delta police public affairs manager Cris Leykauf could not confirm if the man was being investigated for sexual assault, but said that a man was arrested on “outstanding warrant from another police agency,” relating to a separate incident.

BC Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union president Graeme Johnston confirmed in a statement that the worker was sexually assaulted, noting that while the incident was “extremely traumatic, our members are physically OK.”

This is the third incident of abuse faced by a BC Ferries worker in three weeks, according to Johnston – with the first being an attempted vehicular assault and the second a threat to shoot a group of employees.

In the incident on Tuesday, Johnston commended BC Ferries in its handling of the incident.

In a written statement, Corrine Storey, BC Ferries vice president and chief operating officer, said that the company takes reports seriously and that there is “a zero tolerance policy for abuse of its employees.”

READ ALSO: BC Ferries resumes sailings after 25 cancellations on Friday due to high winds


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