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, operating a fleet of 36 vessels with a total passenger and crew capacity of over 27,000, serving 47 locations on the B.C. coast.
Coastal-class ferries, also known as the "Super-C class", are currently the largest double-ended ferries in the world, while the two single-ended Spirit-class ferries are the largest in the BC Ferries fleet. These vessels are owned and operated by BC Ferries of British Columbia, Canada and were built at the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft shipyard in Flensburg, Germany.
The MV Queen of New Westminster is a Canadian roll-on, roll-off passenger ferry operated by BC Ferries.
MV Queen of Nanaimo is a Burnaby-class passenger vessel that was operated by BC Ferries from the time it entered service in 1964 until 2017. Queen of Nanaimo was used to ferry passengers and vehicles from mainland British Columbia, Canada to the islands off its coast. In 2017, the vessel was sold to Goundar Shipping Ltd. and renamed MV Lomaiviti Princess V for service in Fiji.
The V-class ferries, also known as Victoria class, originally included seven BC Ferries built between 1962 and 1965. These vessels were the backbone of service on the Tsawwassen – Swartz Bay route prior to the arrival of MV Spirit of British Columbia in 1993. Some of these vessels underwent vehicle capacity increases three times.
The Powell River-class ferry is a class of ships operated by BC Ferries. The open deck vessels are mostly used on low-to-moderate volume routes, with Mayne Queen permanently on Route 5, connecting the Outer Gulf Islands with Swartz Bay, Powell River Queen on Route 23, Campbell River to Quadra Island, and Bowen Queen on relief duty, typically Routes 4,5, and 9.
MV Queen of Alberni is a C-class ferry that operates between Tsawwassen and Duke Point in British Columbia. She is part of the BC Ferries fleet.
MV Queen of Cowichan is a BC Ferries vessel, built in Victoria, British Columbia in 1976. It joined the other two C-class ferries built that year, Queen of Alberni and Queen of Coquitlam, and was followed by Queen of Surrey and Queen of Oak Bay. The ship, like all C-class ferries, is double-ended. This means the ship never has to turn around in port during regular service. The ships two MaK 12M551AK engines turn out 11,860 horsepower (8,840 kW) which gives it a service speed of 22 knots. Like all the C-class ferries it is 139.28 metres long. Almost identical to Queen of Coquitlam, the vessel has a car capacity of 392 and a passenger capacity for 1,466 people. The ship has two car decks. A lower car deck capable of carrying trucks and buses carries the overheight vehicles while the upper car deck can carry the majority of the cars on board. She is named for the regional district of Cowichan Valley Regional District.
MV Queen of Coquitlam is a C-class ferry in the BC Ferries fleet, launched in 1976. She first operated on BC Ferries' Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay route. For most of her life, she has been a replacement/relief vessel on all the major routes serving Metro Vancouver. She is named for the city of Coquitlam.
MV Queen of Surrey is a double-ended C-class roll-on/roll-off ferry in the BC Ferries fleet. The ship was launched in 1980 and entered service in 1981. The ferry normally operates on BC Ferries' Horseshoe Bay to Langdale route. She is named for the city of Surrey. On May 12, 2003, Queen of Surrey suffered an engine fire that disabled the ferry in Howe Sound. No one was injured and the ship was returned to service. In 2004, the ferry was involved in a collision with a tugboat, and in 2019 she struck a fixed structure at the Langdale terminal. The 2019 crash lead to passengers being stranded on the vessel for over ten hours.
The Sidney class consisted of two roll-on/roll-off ferries, Queen of Sidney and Queen of Tsawwassen, built for the British Columbia Ferry Corporation in service from 1960 to 2008. The design for the ships was based on the ferry MV Coho with changes made to accommodate loading of vehicles through the bow of the vessel. Both vessels serviced different routes throughout their service lives.
MV Coastal Renaissance is the first of three Coastal-class ships delivered to BC Ferries. At the time of their construction, the Coastal-class ferries were the largest double-ended ferries in the world. This ship operates mainly on the Departure Bay – Horseshoe Bay route in the peak season and on the Swartz Bay – Tsawwassen route in the low season, but can replace her sister ships on any of the major cross-Strait routes whenever they go for refits.
MV Coastal Inspiration is the second of three Coastal-class ships delivered to BC Ferries. Launched in 2007 and entering service in 2008, Coastal Inspiration operates on the Duke Point – Tsawwassen route in British Columbia. The vessel collided with the terminal at Duke Point on December 20, 2011, suffering significant damage that kept the ship in the dockyard until January 2012.
Active Pass is a strait separating Galiano Island in the north and Mayne Island in the south in the southern Gulf Islands, British Columbia, Canada. It connects the Trincomali Channel in the west and the Strait of Georgia in the east. The pass stretches 5.5 km from northeast to southwest with two roughly right angle bends at each end.
MV Queen of Oak Bay is a double-ended C-class roll-on/roll-off ferry in the BC Ferries fleet, launched in 1981 at Victoria, British Columbia. The 139.29-metre (457 ft) long, 6,969-ton vessel has a capacity for 362 cars and over 1,500 passengers and crew. She normally operates on BC Ferries' Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay (Nanaimo) route, part of the Trans-Canada Highway. She is named for the district of Oak Bay.
MV Queen of Prince Rupert was a roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferry operated by BC Ferries that provided the main surface transport link between the Queen Charlotte Islands and mainland British Columbia, connecting Skidegate with Prince Rupert across the Hecate Strait. The vessel also ran on the Prince Rupert-Port Hardy Inside Passage route during the low season.
MV Malaspina Sky is an Intermediate-class ferry in the BC Ferries fleet built in 2008.
Spirit of Vancouver Island is an S-class ferry, part of the BC Ferries fleet. Along with MV Spirit of British Columbia, the ship is the largest in the BC Ferries fleet. The ship was completed in 1994 and serves the Swartz Bay – Tsawwassen route. In 2018, Spirit of Vancouver Island began a mid-life refit in Poland, in which the ship will be converted to a dual-fuel system which will allow liquefied natural gas propulsion.
M/V Queen of the Islands was a RORO ferry operated by BC Ferries between 1963 and 1991. Although the passenger areas provided for an enjoyable travel experience for the general public, she was much maligned by the crews that worked on her, and the Queen of the Islands quickly garnered a reputation as being one of the most unloved ships ever to have operated with BC Ferries.
