BC Ferries sailings busy between Tsawwassen, Swartz Bay due to maintenance

Expect delays if you plan on heading between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island Wednesday. Ongoing maintenance has left BC Ferries with one fewer vessel.

The Spirit of Vancouver Island has been removed from service since Monday. That’s led to frustrations for passengers along the Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay route.

On Wednesday, four round trips — or a total of eight sailings — were cancelled along the busy route.

6:53- #BCFerries @BCFerries #Tsawwassen – #SwartzBay 7am and 9am sailings are full, 10am has been cancelled due to a maintenance issue and the 11am is over 3/4 full. #1130Traffic @CityNewsVAN @JACK969van @kissradiohits https://t.co/m6KoIQjjvf pic.twitter.com/vQMVyonG63

— CityNews Vancouver Traffic (@CityNewsTraffic) June 8, 2022

“The Spirit of Vancouver Island has been out of service for the past three days to undergo engine maintenance required before the busy summer season. It’s not a crewing issue,” BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall said.

“We expect that vessel back in full service tomorrow,” she explained Wednesday.

According to the BC Ferries website, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were chosen as the days to pull the vessel from service because they are the “least utilized travel days of the week.” The company warned people travelling to consider walking on instead because sailing waits were possible.

However, many passengers have taken to social media to express their dismay over the waits and sold out sailings. As of Wednesday morning, the majority of sailings were available for the afternoon.

@BCFerries what’s up with our 7pm ferry to Victoria? We were told to go back to our cars for boarding nearly an hour ago. Cars from Victoria have come off the ferry, but we are not being invited to drive on. There have been no updates to us waiting.

— Nikkifelixruss (@Nikkifelixruss1) June 8, 2022

We were just crammed so tightly on the ferry that I hurt myself getting out of my car. We even tried to tell the staff on deck and they told us to just stop and get out. This is not great customer service. No one should have to park within inches of a wall

— Charlotte  (@Charkinzie) June 7, 2022

 

This comes on the heels of months of ongoing service disruptions for passengers, with many of the cancellations blamed on extreme weather and ongoing crewing shortages.

On Monday, in addition to the vessel out of service, several other sailings had to be cancelled in the evening as a result of staffing issues, which led to many other sailings reaching capacity.

The company conducted a hiring blitz at the end of May, offering cash incentives for those applying for seasonal jobs, like customer service attendants and ticket agents in order to meet the high travel demands this summer.

“At BC Ferries we are now guaranteeing 420 hours to all seasonal employees. We will be providing $350.00 at the beginning of employment and $500.00 for those who work past labour day with us!” the company wrote in its online job postings.

Read more: BC Ferries cancelled sailings on Monday due to staffing shortage

To compete with the ongoing global mariner shortage, BC Ferries is offering even more to captains, chief engineers, and chief officers. Under Transport Canada rules, without a minimum number of those highly trained people on board, the vessel cannot sail, leading to a cancellation.

“We have decided a signing bonus to try to encourage people to come join our team,” Marshall said May 27, noting BC Ferries is offering $10,000 for some postings. “It would be $5,000 after successful completion of their probationary period and then it would be another $5,000 after one year of working with us.”

BC Ferries employees must be vaccinated against COVID-19, under order by the government of Canada.

With files from Nikitha Martins, Tim James, Monika Gul, and Hana Mae Nassar