An RCMP emergency response team took over a rusting vessel "of unknown origin" off the B.C. coast Saturday morning and detained all 76 people onboard.
Authorities had been tracking the vessel, the "Ocean Lady," for a couple days after receiving reports it was acting oddly on Canadian waters.
"The Ocean Lady was behaving in a fashion inconsistent with normal shipping practices," Assistant RCMP Commissioner Al MacIntyre told a news conference Saturday.
Federal Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan told reporters that the vessel's unusual behaviour raised concerns about potential human smuggling.
He said there were early indications that the ship's passengers are from Sri Lanka but that has not been confirmed.
An elite team of RCMP officers boarded and took control of the vessel Saturday morning, said RCMP spokesman Sgt. Duncan Pound.
Pound told ctvbc.ca Saturday night that officials decided to board the vessel because of concerns that the crew lacked the ability to steer the ship through busy waters.
Canadian Forces accompanied the RCMP officers and piloted the vessel to a port at Ogden Point, in Victoria. RCMP vessels and a Canadian Navy frigate served as escorts.
Photos released by the RCMP showed numerous people on the top deck of the vessel waving at a helicopter overhead.
All the passengers are male. It is unknown if there are any children.
Officials said the passengers do not appear to have any severe health issues but will undergo examinations.
The passengers were taken off the ship one at a time. They are being detained at an undisclosed location.
Previous vessel intercepts
Ten years ago, Canadian destroyers intercepted unmarked ships off the coast of Vancouver Island in one of the largest human-smuggling operations in Canadian history.
About 600 people, including women and children, were on the boats, most of them from Fujian province in China.
A large gymnasium complex at Victoria's CFB Esquimalt was turned into a mass detention facility.
In June 2001, nine Chinese migrants commandeered a vessel and abandoned it off the coast. They were caught by the RCMP near a campground.
The most recent large-scale event was in 2006. About 120 migrants were caught near the Queen Charlotte Islands.
Much of B.C.'s deserted coast is vulnerable to the arrival of illegal migrants. Many of these people are pledged to or pay organized criminal organizations to smuggle them into Canada.
The RCMP treats these matters as criminal investigations.
With reports from CTV British Columbia's Jim Beatty and Peter Grainger and The Canadian Press
