Court documents show a total of eight counts have been laid against Wainwright Marine Services and James Bates, the president of Bates Properties Ltd., which includes Wainwright Marine as one of its operations.
Fifty-eight-year-old tug captain Troy Pearson and 25-year-old crew member Charley Cragg died, while a third crew member survived, when the tug Ingenika went down in a storm in February 2021 while towing a barge. The Transportation Safety Board initially completed a brief probe of the sinking but after a 10,000-name petition was submitted by Pearson's widow, the case was expanded to a Class 3 investigation, meaning it"may have significant consequences that attract a high level of public interest."