The investigation into the sinking of a whale-watching boat in Canada which killed five Britons and an Australian is focusing on why the vessel proved so unstable when it was hit by a wave and capsized.
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Microsoft United Kingdom said David Thomas was an employee.
The former colleague added: ‘He is someone who takes time to foster collaboration, support and understanding amongst his colleagues’.
Stephen’s brother, Paul Thomas, a 22-year-old University of Nottingham student, was flying out to Canada to be with his mother who is in hospital with minor injuries, the Swindon Advertiser reported.
He said he has not yet spoken with the Leviathan II’s three crewmembers about the incident.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed in a statement that an Australian man was missing following the accident.
British Columbia’s coroner’s office said the five British victims – four men and one woman – were aged between 18 and 76.
Stephen Thomas of Swindon was the youngest of the victims.
She said the Leviathan II was operating normally prior to its departure on Sunday and was nearing the end of a regularly scheduled stop at Plover Reef when disaster struck.
The tragic Brits who died in the horrific whale-watching boat in Canada have all been named.
“All of our thoughts and condolences are with the Thomas family at this bad time”, the group added.
“We’ll be collecting data, conducting interviews, looking at the [weather] conditions, examining and photographing the wreckage, examining the maintenance history, and reviewing the operation and the policies of the operator”, said Eric Collard, a spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed in a statement Monday that the five killed were United Kingdom nationals.
A spokeswoman for Jamie’s Whaling said in a press conference yesterday: “We have learned that the crew was able to access flares onboard the boat and deployed them from the water”.
Twenty-one people were rescued and one person remained missing. We were all delighted when Stephen’s lovely image Moraine Lake won the national My Perspective photographic competition previous year. The two young men, who had been out camping, were instrumental in the rescue, even pulling clothes and blankets from their packs to help warm up the people they saved.
He told ABC News he found a first group of people huddled in a life raft before being directed towards people still in the water. “My thoughts and prayers are with the passengers, the crew, and their families at this most hard time”. “The vessel broached and then capsized”. He was unresponsive, and tangled in a line. Among those whom they retrieved on their small boat were a pregnant woman and a woman with a broken leg.
Schulte spoke with her Tuesday, and both she and Carlson are expected to make a full recovery.
Greg Louie, chief councillor of the Ahousaht First Nation Elected Council, told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme that “possibly everyone” could have drowned or died of hypothermia had the local community not responded to the accident so quickly.
The comapny Jamie’s Whaling Station suffered a very similar loss 17 years ago.
Locals held a dinner on Monday evening at the Tofino community hall to remember those affected by the tragedy.
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The boat, the 20-meter (65-foot) Leviathan II, was partially submerged 8 nautical miles (12 nautical kilometers) west of Tofino.
