Hullo Ferries and multiple crews called in to rescue people adrift near Vancouver Island

Hullo ferries in Nanaimo. (CTV News)

Four people were rescued in a joint operation off Vancouver Island Sunday that involved a passenger ferry making a detour and deploying its rescue boat.

According to a statement from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, its Victoria branch received a mayday call for three people whose boat had “gone aground” near Snake Island, a rocky, uninhabited island northeast of Nanaimo, at around 11:45 a.m.

The organization tasked the Canadian Coast Guard and the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue with the assist, while a Nanaimo Port Authority vessel, a Hullo Ferry and the BC Ferries’ Queen of Alberni also responded.

“The Hullo Ferry launched their rescue boat and found that there were four persons involved in the incident, and all four had made it to the beach on Snake Island,” said the statement.

The Hullo rescue boat stayed on the scene until the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue arrived, picked up the four people, and transported them back to Nanaimo, shortly after 12:15 p.m., the statement said.

None of the four passengers required medical attention.