B.C. Ferries prepares for busy summer as it maintains aging fleet

Officials with B.C. Ferries say they are preparing for the upcoming May long weekend and a busy summer season ahead.

B.C. Ferries called last summer their busiest season ever, and said they're expecting even higher demand this year as they deal with an increasingly complex operating environment.

"We are working with aging vessels and terminal infrastructure, and this means that we have to plan for worst-case scenarios to protect service," said Stephen Jones, vice-president of engineering with B.C. Ferries.  

"While we can't eliminate all risks, we are working hard behind the scenes to keep people and goods moving … We are prepared for summer, we're focusing on delivering for the people who count on us, but we are transparent about our limits."

B.C. Ferries said they will work on maintaining vessels, adjust sailing schedules and hire 600 seasonal employees.

Jones said there will be four new diesel hybrid vessels starting in 2026. The B.C. Ferries commissioner also approved four new vessels that are scheduled to arrive between 2029 and 2031.

In the meantime, the company says it's doing the best it can with the resources it has.

"We're stretching every mile out on our aging fleet, but relief is on the horizon," Jones said.

Frustration in ferry-dependent communities

On the Easter long weekend, passengers travelling between Langdale on the Sunshine Coast and West Vancouver's Horseshoe Bay were stuck on a ferry for several hours. The vessel had to be assisted into Horseshoe Bay by a tugboat after suffering a mechanical failure.

Silas White, the mayor of the Sunshine Coast town of Gibsons, says he has concerns about summer travel.

"We asked to have some input into the summer schedule, particularly to talk to B.C. Ferries about how it could be extended, because they're really difficult times for our community," White told CBC News.

"The problem is it really falls apart ... just before that [summer] schedule hits and just after that schedule hits … We are a ferry-dependent community and residents here deserve a reliable and consistent service."

White says unreliable ferry service can have a profound impact on residents, whether they need to attend a medical appointment, commute to work, or play sports.

He said B.C. Ferries promised a replacement vessel for the Sunshine Coast in 2022, but it was sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic.

WATCH | Gibsons mayor on being reliant on ferries: 

B.C. Ferries neglecting ferry-dependent locals in favour of tourists, says Gibsons' mayor

1 day ago

Duration 3:03

Silas White, the mayor of Gibsons, responds to a BC Today caller from Salt Spring Island who says B.C. Ferries is not placing much importance on increasing service to small islands compared to routes from the B.C. mainland. White agrees with the caller and says the ferry corporation's messaging about improvements primarily targets tourists, when residents from ferry-dependent communities are the most concerned.

"We're being neglected and we're not even considered as being the targets or the recipients of these communications, when really our residents are the people who are most concerned about B.C. Ferries on a daily basis," he told CBC News on Wednesday in response to a news release from B.C. Ferries about its plans to welcome millions of customers this summer.