Looking back and up from the crowded car deck of a ferry to the cabin above

BC Ferries Cancellations This Past Six Months

There was a marked decrease in the number of BC Ferries cancellations on the Campbell River run this past quarter, but little change on the Cortes Island Ferry. 

According to the corporations newly released report of cancellations statistics from July to September 2023, the new hybrid e-ferries only missed 24 sailings as opposed to 161 the previous quarter. 

Image credit: One of the hybrid e-ferries at its berth – Photo by Roy L Hales

There were no cancellations due to weather or mechanical failures. However 22 sailings had to be cancelled because of crew shortages and another 2 for unspecified reasons. 

There were 343 cancellations in BC Ferries last fiscal year, which ended in March 2023. 

26 sailings were missed on the Heriot Bay to Cortes Island run. This is only one more than the previous quarter. The principal differences are fewer weather related cancellations, but an increase in mechancial and staffing problems.

The picture Fleet wide is not pretty. There were 1,172 cancellations in the past six months. More than 80% of these occured in minor routes, such as ours and the leading causes were crew shortages, mechanical failures and weather.      

Top image credit: Looking up from the car deck on one of the e-ferries serving Campbell River and Quadra – Photo by Roy L Hales

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