In May 1980, after an extensive $10 million refit for longer haul, northern service (staterooms, more restaurants and cargo holds) she was renamed Queen of the North.

Due to the isolation of some of these communities (where roads were poor or non-existent), she served as the main source of transport, picking up residents and medical patients, and dropping off food, mail and supplies.

After the sinking of MS Estonia in 1994, BC Ferries installed a second set of internally welded doors to prevent the bow from flooding in rough seas.

Queen of the North sank after running aground on Gil Island in Wright Sound, 135 kilometres (73 nmi) south of Prince Rupert, British Columbia.

The Canadian Hydrographic Service's electronic navigational charts show the wreck at 53°19.932′N 129°14.794′W / 53.332200°N 129.246567°W / 53.332200; -129.246567, 77 metres (84 yd) WNW of the position cited in BC Ferries' investigation.

The report concluded that Queen of the North failed to make the required or any course changes at Sainty Point, and that the ship proceeded straight on an incorrect course for 4 nautical miles (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) over 14 minutes until its grounding at 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph) on Gil Island.

The investigation found no evidence of alterations of speed at any time during the transit of Wright Sound and concluded that human factors were the primary cause of the sinking.

Originally the evacuation of the ship was reported to be a smooth one; however, stories of chest high water and trapped crew members surfaced on March 24.

According to the official BC Ferries press release, 99 of the 101 passengers and crew were safely evacuated with only a few minor injuries,[10] and many of them found refuge in nearby Hartley Bay.

Two people, Shirley Rosette and Gerald Foisy of 100 Mile House, British Columbia, apparently failed to reach the lifeboats and died when the ship sank.

"[16] At the time of its discovery, the sunken vessel was located at 53° 19.91' N, 129° 14.72' W. Images of the scene were given to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada as part of the investigation into the cause of the sinking.

[18] BC Ferries president David Hahn doubted that any new information would be forthcoming from a future disciplinary inquiry, due to the uncooperative responses by these two officers on night watch at the time of the sinking.

[19][20] The Vancouver Sun stated that the BC Ferries report "dismisses the idea that confusion over how to use new bridge equipment installed a month before the crash had anything to do with the sinking.

"[19] The BC Ferries report also highlights the role of the fourth officer, who had control of the ship from Sainty Point, but failed to make the necessary course correction.

According to the report, the Vancouver Sun wrote that: Just before the crash, the fourth officer screamed at the helmswoman to make a bold course correction – a 109-degree turn – and to switch off the autopilot.

[The] BC Ferries' report questions the validity of this evidence "as the autopilot disengages simply with a single switch and would have been operated numerous times by the [helmswoman]."

However, in its own report, BC Ferries states the master found it necessary to post a note for navigational crew on how to operate the autopilot and included procedures for changing modes.

She said she was asked to make only one, maybe two small course changes as directed by the fourth officer after she started her shift but that was ... until just before the vessel hit Gil Island.

"[19] However, BC Ferries concluded that the bridge crew working the night of the disaster "chose" to use newly installed steering controls in a way "different" from the manner instructed, but that this choice did not appear to have been the cause for the grounding of Queen of the North.

[22][23] On April 24, 2007, BC Ferries fired three Queen of the North crew members who were on the bridge when the ship collided with Gil Island and sank.

In the legislature in March 2007, NDP Opposition Critic for the Environment Shane Simpson questioned the lack of action in the previous year on removing the fuel from the sunken ship.