The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) says officers pursued a yacht in the waters off the Point Grey neighbourhood on Thursday morning after a female passenger, allegedly being assaulted on board, had called police.
The VPD says that their flagship did a “pace and pin” manoeuvre to approach the yacht before emergency response officers jumped aboard the moving craft in the Burrard Inlet.
Once onboard the 12-metre yacht, the VPD’s Emergency Response Team located firearms and arrested a “violent” male suspect.
The woman was safely rescued, and the yacht was returned to Vancouver.
Police are now preparing charges of assault and forcible confinement against the suspect.
The VPD say that the rescue mission was “challenging” and took place in “very heavy conditions” with waves up to 1.8 metres and 15-knot winds.
Officers add that the department’s new flagship, the R.G. McBeath V.C., made the operation possible in the first place.
The vessel was just christened in October last year.