BC Ferries’ Queen of Burnaby will be temporarily removed from service on the Comox – Powell River route to repair a propeller hub. The vessel will enter a dry docking Wednesday, February 8, and is expected to return to service within one week.
The MV Island Sky, which usually sails between Earls Cove and Saltery Bay, will be redeployed to the Comox – Powell River route to replace the Queen of Burnaby on the evening of February 7, and the regular schedule will remain in effect on this route beginning the morning of February 8.
Passenger/Ro-Ro Cargo Ship Queen Of Burnaby - Image courtesy of: Ed Cooke
The Bowen Queen will assume service on the Earls Cove – Saltery Bay route on February 8 as well. As the capacity of the Bowen Queen is lower than that of the MV Island Sky, an additional round-trip will be added to this schedule during the Family Day long weekend from Friday, February 10 through to Monday, February 13. This will include a 1:50 pm sailing from Saltery Bay and a 2:50 pm sailing from Earls Cove.
As the Bowen Queen does not have an elevator, an accessible portable washroom will be installed on the vehicle deck for customers unable to use stairs to access the passenger lounge and washroom deck. As well, complimentary coffee/tea will be offered to all customers on this route.
Customers arriving at Horseshoe Bay terminal and destined for the Saltery Bay – Earls Cove route will see signage asking to identify themselves for real-time information on traffic and possible overloads of that route.
Once the repairs are complete on the Queen of Burnaby, that vessel and the MV Island Sky will resume service on their regular routes.
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.
Source: BC Ferries