BC Ferries says Coastal Renaissance unlikely to return before mid-October
Posted August 22, 2023 9:59 am.
Last Updated August 22, 2023 2:20 pm.
BC Ferries says its broken vessel, Coastal Renaissance, is unlikely to be ready for service again before mid-October.
In an update Tuesday afternoon, the corporation said the Queen of Coquitlam will sub-in for the Coastal Renaissance on its route from Tsawwassen to Duke Point on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the time being.
“With the Queen of Coquitlam coming on this route, we’ve been able to protect about 3,000 bookings that otherwise would have been impacted,” says Karen Tindall, BC Ferries director of customer care. “So we’re really happy that that vessel is is available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to get that work done.”
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The 2007-built Coastal Renaissance has been out of commission for several days now due to mechanical issues with its engine.
Tindall says the company has 3,700 customers left to notify in response to the ferry’s service disruption. All customers affected will be notified by Thursday, she adds.
Stephen Jones, BC Ferries’ executive director of engineering, says they plan to lift and inspect the broken ferry’s rotor between Sept. 7-15. Then, the corporation will have to order materials and wait for them to arrive, before it can get to work rebuilding the necessary parts.
Based on information from a local technician, Jones says this can take about five weeks, meaning the Coastal Renaissance is very unlikely to be back in service before the Thanksgiving weekend.
Long weekend projections
In anticipation of a bustling Labour Day long weekend, BC Ferries is going beyond asking customers to consider travel as a foot passenger.
Now, BC Ferries is also encouraging customers to take public transit and rideshares to the ferry terminal due to overflowing parking lots.
“It’s going to be busy. If you don’t have a booking, there is very limited space left after we’ve done these cancellations on the route,” Tindall says.
“We also have noted over the last several weekends that parking fills up extremely fast and by Saturday, most terminals are seeing parking lots full.”
Post-Labour Day, Tindall says BC Ferries is still working on figuring out what the schedule will look like, including for the Thanksgiving long weekend.
