Queen of Alberni ferry out at least a week after mechanical failure left passengers stranded
Posted October 28, 2020 9:07 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TSAWWASSEN (NEWS 1130) – The Queen of Alberni won’t be sailing for at least a week after a mechanical failure on Tuesday stranded ferry passengers off Tsawwassen for hours.
The repairs have meant a number of sailings were either delayed or cancelled between Tuesday night and Wednesday.
BC Ferries had to bring in a substitute vessel Wednesday morning from the neighbouring Victoria run to handle the Queen of Alberni’s first sailing, but it couldn’t be there in time for the 5:45 a.m. departure.
“The Coastal Class that’s filling in is actually based at Swartz Bay, so we had to bring it over from Swartz Bay this morning to go over to Tsawwassen,” Deborah Marshall with BC Ferries explains.
Marshall says the Alberni’s out with a gear-box breakdown. With repairs expected to take at least a week, she she says the Coastal Celebration and the Queen of Coquitlam will be picking up the slack.
Despite the Alberni being 44 years old, Marshall says engineers do an excellent job of maintaining it.
“We operate that ship nearly 20 hours a day, seven days a week for about 11 months of the year. So, when you look at the track record, while we hear about the times and when we do have mechanical issues, 99 per cent of the time everything runs smoothly,” she tells NEWS 1130.
Marshall says if you’re travelling the Tsawwassen-Duke Point route this week, it’s a good idea to check the schedule before you go.
Customers with reservations on cancelled sailings will hear from BC Ferries, she adds.
