Clipper aims to launch Vancouver-Victoria ferry in spring 2017

Victoria Clipper will be launching its high-speed service between Vancouver and Victoria in the spring of 2017, says founder and CEO Merideth Tall

The new service, which is aimed at tourists, will start with one round-trip a day, departing from Vancouver in the morning and returning in the afternoon.

The travel time would be three hours and 15 minutes each way. The travel time is longer than the tradition BC Ferries route because the new vessel would run from downtown to downtown.

If it does launch as planned, the service could be one of two on the route next spring.  Earlier this month V2V Vacations also announced plans to launch a similar service next spring.

But V2V has already taken delivery of its new vessel, and plans to spend the next year refitting it for the service. Meanwhile Clipper's CEO has yet to decide if it will buy or build a new ship for the route.

"We have identified all the characteristics for a vessel and we are in the process right now of deciding if we are going to be using a new build for this or an existing vessel," said Tall.

Either way, Tall promises that the service will not make the same mistakes that have doomed many similar services over the years.

"We are committed to getting it right," said Tall. "The boat is absolutely the most important piece of this ... We are going to have exactly the right vessel for the route.

"We won't compromise and risk making mistakes other operators have made."

She said the vessel would be a catamaran at least 44-metres long and capable of carrying at least 300 passengers, but did not reveal any proposed ticket price for the trip.