BC Ferries announced that repairs to the Queen of Nanaimo are complete and the vessel returns to service on June 29 on the Tsawwassen – Southern Gulf Islands route in advance of the Canada Day long weekend. The Queen of Nanaimo joins the Coastal Inspiration in returning to service tomorrow, so BC Ferries’ full summer schedule will be in effect on all routes.
“Everything is in place to provide our customers with the service they expect in the peak season ahead of a busy long weekend,” said Mark Collins, BC Ferries’ President and CEO. “This was obviously a necessary repair and I want to thank our customers for their patience during the service interruption. I’d also like to thank our engineers and technicians who worked around the clock to fix the problem.”
Last week, the Queen of Nanaimo was temporarily removed from service as one of the vessel’s controllable pitch propeller systems stopped responding correctly due to an unknown system failure. The fault proved difficult to locate as the system is a combination of pneumatic, mechanical and hydraulic components. The ship’s engineers, along with internal and external specialized technicians, methodically replaced key components and made adjustments to both hydraulic and pneumatic control systems to rectify the fault. The cause of the failure was not a single issue, but a combination of a faulty hydraulic valve and a number of necessary system adjustments.
With the repairs now complete, the Customer Care Centre is updating BC Ferries’ website, adding in sailings that will be provided by the Queen of Nanaimo on the Southern Gulf Islands route and allowing customers to book reservations.
“In addition, we know we had some challenges last Sunday processing high volumes of traffic through the ticket booths at our Mayne Island terminal. This situation caused unacceptable delays for our customers and for this inconvenience, we apologize. I want to assure our customers that we’ve addressed that situation and are prepared for the upcoming Canada Day long weekend,” added Collins.
Under contract to the Province of British Columbia, BC Ferries is the service provider responsible for the delivery of safe, efficient and dependable ferry service along coastal British Columbia.