BC Ferries

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template other Template:Main other{{#invoke:Check for clobbered parameters|check|nested=1|template=Infobox company|cat=Template:Main other|name; company_name|logo; company_logo|logo_alt; alt|trade_name; trading_name|former_names; former_name|type; company_type|predecessors; predecessor|successors; successor|foundation; founded|founders; founder|defunct; dissolved|hq_location; location|hq_location_city; location_city|hq_location_country; location_country|num_locations; locations|areas_served; area_served|net_income; profit|net_income_year; profit_year|owners; owner |homepage; website }}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox company with unknown parameter "_VALUE_" | ignoreblank=y | alt | area_served | areas_served | assets | assets_year | aum | brands | company_logo | company_name | company_type | defunct | dissolved | divisions | embed | equity | equity_year | fate | footnotes | former_name | former_names | foundation | founded | founder | founders | genre | homepage | hq_location | hq_location_city | hq_location_country | incorporated | image | image_alt | image_caption | image_size | image_upright | income_year | industry | ISIN | key_people | location | location_city | location_country | locations | logo | logo_alt | logo_caption | logo_class | logo_size | logo_upright | members | members_year | module | name | native_name | native_name_lang | net_income | net_income_year | num_employees | num_employees_year | num_locations | num_locations_year | operating_income | owner | owners | parent | predecessor | predecessors | production | production_year | products | profit | profit_year | rating | ratio | revenue | revenue_year | romanized_name | services | subsid | successor | successors | traded_as | trade_name | trading_name | type | website| qid | fetchwikidata | suppressfields | noicon | nocat | demo | categories }}

British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., operating as BC Ferries (BCF), is a former provincial Crown corporation, now operating as an independently managed, publicly owned Canadian company. BC Ferries provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry services for coastal and island communities in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Set up in 1960 to provide a similar service to that provided by the Black Ball Line and the Canadian Pacific Railway, which were affected by job action at the time, BC Ferries has become the largest passenger ferry line in North America,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> operating a fleet of 41 vessels with a total passenger and crew capacity of over 27,000, serving 47 locations on the B.C. coast.

The federal and provincial governments subsidize BC Ferries to provide agreed service levels on essential links between the BC mainland, coastal islands, and parts of the mainland without road access. The inland ferries operating on British Columbia's rivers and lakes are not run by BC Ferries. The responsibility for their provision rests with the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, which contracts operation to various private sector companies.

StructureEdit

At its inception, BC Ferries was a division of the British Columbia Toll Highways and Bridges Authority, a provincial Crown corporation. Through successive reorganizations, it evolved into the British Columbia Ferry Authority and then the British Columbia Ferry Corporation, both of which were also provincial Crown corporations. In 2003, the Government of British Columbia announced that BC Ferries, which had been in debt, would be reorganized into a private corporation, implemented through the passage of the Coastal Ferry Act<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (Bill 18–2003). The single voting share of BC Ferries Corporation is held by the provincial government's BC Ferry Authority, which operates under the rules of the Act.

HistoryEdit

In the summer of 1958, a strike by employees of CP Steamships and the Black Ball Line caused the Social Credit government of W. A. C. Bennett to decide that the coastal ferry service in British Columbia needed to be government-owned, and so it set about creating BC Ferries. Minister of Highways Phil Gaglardi was tasked with overseeing the new Crown corporation and its rapid expansion.

File:Tsawwassen-Terminal-aerial.jpg

Tsawwassen terminal was constructed by filling in a large area at the end of a causeway in 1960

File:BC Ferries Tsawwassen Tollbooths.jpg

Toll booths at Tsawwassen Terminal

File:BC Ferries Loading Ramp.jpg

A BC Ferries loading dock (berth 4 at Tsawwassen terminal)

File:Loaded onto a ferry.jpg

Final loading of cars onto a ferry

BC Ferries' first route, commissioned in 1960, was between Swartz Bay, north of Sidney on Vancouver Island, and Tsawwassen, an area in Delta, using just two vessels. These ships were the now-retired MV Tsawwassen and the MV Sidney. The next few years saw a dramatic growth of the B.C. ferry system as it took over operations of the Black Ball Line and other major private companies providing vehicle ferry service between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. As the ferry system expanded and started to service other small coastal communities, BC Ferries had to build more vessels, many of them in the first five years of its operations, to keep up with the demand. Another method of satisfying increasing demand for service was BC Ferries' unique "stretch and lift" program, involving seven vessels being cut in half and extended, and five of those vessels later cut in half again and elevated, to increase their passenger and vehicle-carrying capacities. The vast majority of the vessels in the fleet were built in B.C. waters, with only two foreign purchases and one domestic purchase. In the mid-1980s, BC Ferries took over the operations of the saltwater branch of the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Highways, which ran ferry services to very small coastal communities. This action dramatically increased the size of BC Ferries' fleet and its geographical service area. The distinctive "dogwood on green" flag that BC Ferries used between 1960 and 2003 gave the service its popular nickname "the Dogwood Fleet".

During the 1990s, the NDP government commissioned a series of three fast ferries to improve ferry service between the Mainland and Vancouver Island. The ships proved problematic when they suffered many technical issues and cost double what was expected. The fast ferries were eventually sold off for $19.4 million in 2003.

A controversy began in July 2004 when BC Ferries, under a new American CEO, announced that the company had disqualified all Canadian bids to build three new Template:Sclass2 ships, and only the proposals from European shipyards were being considered. The contract was estimated at $542 million for the three ships, each designed to carry 370 vehicles and 1600 passengers.

The argument for domestic construction of the ferries was that it would employ numerous British Columbia workers, revitalize the sagging B.C. shipbuilding industry, and entitle the provincial government to a large portion of the cost in the form of taxes. BC Ferries CEO David Hahn claimed that building the ferries in Germany would "save almost $80 million and could lead to lower fares."<ref>Template:Cite journal Template:Dead link</ref>

On September 17, 2004, BC Ferries awarded<ref>Microsoft Word – 04-071 Super C.doc. Bcferries.com (June 21, 2012). Retrieved June 25, 2012. Template:Webarchive</ref> the vessel construction contract to Germany's Flensburger shipyard. The contract protected BC Ferries from any delays through a fixed price and fixed schedule contract. Template:MV entered service in March 2008, while Template:MV was delivered the same month and entered service in June that year. The third ship, Template:MV, was delivered in June of the same year and entered service in November.

On August 18, 2006, BC Ferries commissioned<ref>Media Room | BC Ferries – British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. BC Ferries (June 21, 2012). Retrieved June 25, 2012.</ref> Flensburger to build a new vessel for its Inside Passage route, with the contract having many of the same types of terms as that for the Coastal-class vessels. The new northern service vessel, Template:MV, was delivered in March 2008, and entered service in May of the same year.

On August 26, 2012, BC Ferries announced that it would be cutting 98 round trips on its major routes starting in the fall and winter of 2012 as part of a four-year plan to save $1 million on these routes. Service cuts have included the elimination of supplementary sailings on the Swartz Bay–Tsawwassen route, 18 round trips on the Horseshoe Bay–Departure Bay route, and 48 round trips, the largest number of cuts, on the Duke Point–Tsawwassen route, with plans to look for savings on the smaller unprofitable routes in the future.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Free ferry trips for seniors were suspended from April 2014<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> to April 2018.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the fall of 2014, BC Ferries announced the addition of three new Intermediate-class ferries to phase out Queen of Burnaby and Queen of Nanaimo.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> These three vessels were to be named the Template:Sclass2; Salish Orca, Salish Eagle and Salish Raven. In 2022, Salish Heron, the fourth Salish-class vessel, entered service. All four ferries were designed and built by Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. in Gdansk, Poland, and are dual-fuel, capable of operating on liquefied natural gas and marine diesel. These vessels are a part of BC Ferries standardized fleet plan, which will take the number of ship classes in the BC Ferries fleet from 17 to 5.<ref>Shipbuilding Plan. BC Ferries (Summer 2018). Retrieved September 8, 2023.</ref> The proposed replacement classes are Northern, Major, Salish, Shuttle and Island. Additionally, there will still be three unique (unclassed) vessels in the fleet after standardization is complete. BC Ferries has stated, however, that this total standardization of the fleet will not be achieved for another 40 years. As of March 2024, the fleet has so far been reduced to 11 classes of vessels, with 8 unique (unclassed) vessels remaining as well.

Financial resultsEdit

Template:Aligned table

Current routesEdit

Route numbers are used internally by BC Ferries only. All routes except Route 13 and the Unregulated routes carry vehicles.<ref name="AnRep" />


Official routes
Route Number	Route Name/Location (Highway Carried)	Origin	Destination(s)
1	Georgia Strait South (Highway 17)	Victoria (via Swartz Bay, on Vancouver Island)	Vancouver (via Tsawwassen)
2	Georgia Strait Central (Highway 1)	Nanaimo (via Departure Bay, on Vancouver Island)	Vancouver (via Horseshoe Bay)
3	Howe Sound - Mainland (Highway 101)	Vancouver (via Horseshoe Bay)	Langdale
4	Satellite Channel	Victoria (via Swartz Bay, on Vancouver Island)	Salt Spring Island (via Fulford Harbour)
5	Swanson Channel	Victoria (via Swartz Bay, on Vancouver Island)	Southern Gulf Islands - Galiano Island (via Sturdies Bay), Mayne Island (via Village Bay), Pender Island (via Otter Bay), and Saturna Island (via Lyall Harbour)
6	South Stuart Channel	Crofton (on Vancouver Island)	Salt Spring Island (via Vesuvius)
7	Jervis Inlet - Mainland (Highway 101)	Earls Cove	Saltery Bay
8	Queen Charlotte Channel	Vancouver (via Horseshoe Bay)	Bowen Island (via Snug Cove)
9	Active Pass Shuttle	Vancouver (via Tsawwassen)	Southern Gulf Islands - Galiano Island (via Sturdies Bay), Mayne Island (via Village Bay), Pender Island (via Otter Bay), Saturna Island (via Lyall Harbour), and Salt Spring Island (via Long Harbour)
10	Inside Passage (Highway 19)	Port Hardy (via Bear Cove, on Vancouver Island)	Prince Rupert (on Kaien Island)
11	Hecate Strait (Highway 16)	Prince Rupert (on Kaien Island)	Haida Gwaii (via Skidegate, on Graham Island)
12	Saanich Inlet - Vancouver Island	Brentwood Bay	Mill Bay
13	Thornbrough Channel	Langdale	Gambier Island (via New Brighton) and Keats Island (via Keats Landing and Eastbourne) (Operated by Kona Winds Yacht Charters Ltd.)
17	Georgia Strait North	Comox (via Little River, on Vancouver Island)	Powell River (via Westview)
18	Malaspina Strait	Powell River (via Westview)	Texada Island (via Blubber Bay)
19	Northumberland Channel	Nanaimo (via Nanaimo Harbour, on Vancouver Island)	Gabriola Island (via Descanso Bay)
20	North Stuart Channel	Chemainus (on Vancouver Island)	Thetis Island (via Preedy Harbour) and Penelakut Island (via Telegraph Habour)
21	Baynes Sound	Buckley Bay (on Vancouver Island)	Denman Island (via Denman West)
22	Lambert Channel	Denman Island (via Gravelly Bay)	Hornby Island (via Shingle Spit)
23	Discovery Passage	Campbell River (on Vancouver Island)	Quadra Island (via Quathiaski Cove)
24	Sutil Channel	Quadra Island (via Heriot Bay)	Cortes Island (via Whaletown)
25	Broughton Strait	Port McNeill (on Vancouver Island)	Alert Bay (on Cormorant Island) and Sointula (on Malcolm Island)
26	Skidegate Inlet - Haida Gwaii	Skidegate (on Graham Island)	Alliford Bay (on Moresby Island)
28	Discovery Coast Connector	Port Hardy (via Bear Cove, on Vancouver Island)	Bella Coola (Direct summer service)
28A	Discovery Coast Connector	Port Hardy (via Bear Cove, on Vancouver Island)	Bella Coola with stops at Bella Bella (via McLoughlin Bay, on Campbell Island), Klemtu, Ocean Falls, and Shearwater. (Year round service)
30	Mid-Island Express (Highway 19)	Nanaimo (via Duke Point, on Vancouver Island)	Vancouver (via Tsawwassen)
Unnumbered	Vancouver Island East	Vancouver (via Tsawwassen)	Nanaimo (via Departure Bay, on Vancouver Island) (Started in summer 2025 as a once per day, one-way only service).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Unregulated routes*
Route Number	Route Location/Name	Origin	Destination(s)
25u	Broughton Strait - Water taxi/school trip ferry	Port McNeill (on Vancouver Island)	Alert Bay (on Cormorant Island) and Sointula (on Malcolm Island)
51	Vancouver Island West	Tofino	Ahousat (on Flores Island) and Hotsprings Cove (Operated by various water taxis)
53	Vancouver Island Northwest	Gold River	Kyuquot and Tahsis (Operated by Get West Adventure Cruises)
54	Inside Passage	Prince Rupert (via Cow Bay, on Kaien Island)	Dodge Cove (on Digby Island) (Operated by West Coast Launch)
55	Georgia Strait North-Central	French Creek (on Vancouver Island)	Lasqueti Island (via False Bay) (Operated by Pacific Western Marine Ltd.)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
59	Vancouver Island West	Port Alberni	Bamfield and Kildonan (Operated by Lady Rose Marine Services)
60	Inside Passage	Prince Rupert (on Kaien Island)	Hartley Bay, Kitkatla (on Dolphin Island), Oona River (on Porcher Island), and Metlakatla
Unnumbered	Inside Passage	Prince Rupert (on Kaien Island)	Lax Kwʼalaams (also known as Port Simpson) (Operated by the Lax-kw'alaams First Nation community)

*Operated by third-party contractors, under the sponsorship of BC Ferries.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

MapsEdit

Numbers in blue circles are ferry route numbers. Provincial highway trailblazers are added where appropriate.

BC Ferries Zone One.png

Zone 1 – Southern Gulf Islands
BC Ferries Zone Two.png

Zone 2 – Central Georgia Strait
BC Ferries Zone Three.png

Zone 3 – Northern Georgia Strait
BC Ferries Zone Four.png

Zone 4 – Queen Charlotte Sound
BC Ferries Zone Five.png

Zone 5 – North Coast

FleetEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} BC Ferries has the largest fleet of vehicle ferry vessels in the world. There are at least 45 vessels, ranging from small passenger-only water taxis, up to the 358-car Spirit-class ferries. All of the vessels in use on BC Ferries' official routes are roll-on/roll-off car ferries, with the exception of those assigned to Route 13. Most of the major vessels are based on similar designs, which are aggregated into classes of ferries:

Accidents and incidentsEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

ReferencesEdit

CitationsEdit

Template:Reflist

ReferencesEdit

Bannerman, Gary and Patricia. The Ships of British Columbia – An Illustrated History of the British Columbia Ferry Corporation. Surrey: Hancock House Publishers, 1985