BC Ferries sailings between Vancouver Island, Lower Mainland filling quickly
Posted July 3, 2023 7:03 am.
Last Updated July 3, 2023 12:10 pm.
Key BC Ferries sailings between Victoria and Nanaimo to Vancouver are filling up quickly on Monday morning.
As of Monday afternoon, every route from Vancouver Island to Metro Vancouver is seeing at least a two-sailing wait for vehicles.
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Heading in the opposite direction, Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay is showing more available space, with only a handful of sailings over 80 per cent full for the day.
The busy holiday should be no surprise to travellers after a chaotic Thursday and Friday at the terminals. Sailings from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay were completely booked up for vehicles early in the day on both days.
Part of the backlog is due to repairs to the Coastal Celebration vessel, which had to undergo unexpected repairs, costing the key Vancouver-Victoria route eight daily sailings over the long weekend.
Elsewhere in the fleet, a half-dozen sailings on Sunday between Victoria and the Southern Gulf Islands were cancelled due to staffing challenges.
Ahead of the weekend, BC Ferries warned travellers of the potential backlogs at the terminals, urging anyone without a reservation to consider boarding as a foot passenger.
On Thursday, the company said over 5,300 vehicles and 20,000 passengers were serviced on the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay run on Thursday alone. Over 18,000 vehicles and 500,000 total passengers were expected to use the system over the long weekend.
For the latest information on BC Ferries, listen to CityNews 1130 for live traffic updates every 10 minutes. You can also follow us on Twitter @CityNewsTraffic or subscribe to breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.
This article will be updated with the latest information regarding BC Ferries on Monday.
-With files from Emily Marsten
