This fiscal year, BC Ferries experienced the highest passenger traffic levels in 20 years and the highest levels of vehicle traffic ever. To help meet the increased demand, BC Ferries is adding five new major vessels to their fleet.
While four of the ferries will replace current ships — the Queen of Alberni, Queen of New Westminster, Queen of Cowichan, and Queen of Coquitlam — the fifth new vessel will increase the Metro Vancouver fleet.
“We often do not have an additional ship if there is an unplanned service outage, which can result in multiple sailing waits. The new vessel will help to fill that gap,” said Deborah Marshall, director of media relations for BC Ferries. “Will it completely eliminate all sailing waits? Probably not.”
READ MORE: New BC Ferries website coming soon
RELATED: BC Ferries seeks five new ships
The ships, expected to be in service in 2023, will be used between Victoria, Nanaimo and Metro Vancouver.
In another effort to meet rising demand, BC Ferries is launching a new website in Spring 2019 to roll out a new pricing initiative that will offer discounts to customers on certain sailings in order to shift demand and fully utilize the fleet.
