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 41 vessels with a total passenger and crew capacity of over 27,000, serving 47 locations on the B.C. coast.
The MV Queen of New Westminster is a Canadian roll-on, roll-off passenger ferry operated by BC Ferries.
Eureka is a side-wheel paddle steamboat, built in 1890, which is now preserved at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in San Francisco, California. Originally named Ukiah to commemorate the railway's recent extension into the City of Ukiah, the boat was built by the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad Company at their Tiburon yard. Eureka has been designated a National Historic Landmark and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on April 24, 1973.
The V-class ferries, also known as the Victoria class, originally included seven ferries operated by BC Ferries built between 1962 and 1965. The V class were a continuation of the previous Sidney-class design with some cosmetic changes and different engines. 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. Four of these vessels underwent vehicle capacity increases three times. The lead ship of the class, Queen of Victoria suffered significant damage in a collision in 1970.
MV Queen of Alberni is a C-class ferry that operates between Horseshoe Bay and Departure Bay in British Columbia. She is part of the BC Ferries fleet.
MV Queen of the North was a roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferry built by AG Weser of Germany and operated by BC Ferries, which ran along an 18-hour route along the British Columbia Coast of Canada between Port Hardy and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a route also known as the Inside Passage. On March 22, 2006, with 101 people aboard, she failed to make a planned course change, ran aground and sank. Two passengers, whose bodies were never found, died in the incident. The ship had a gross register tonnage of 8,806, and an overall length of 125 metres (410 ft). She had a capacity of 700 passengers and 115 cars.
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 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.
The steamboat Daily operated in the early 1900s as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet. In later years, Daily was renamed Island Princess and later Cy Peck.
The steamboat Yosemite operated for almost fifty years on San Francisco Bay, the Sacramento River, inland coastal waters and the lower Fraser River in British Columbia, and Puget Sound.
Asbury Park was a high-speed coastal steamer built in Philadelphia, and intended to transport well-to-do persons from New York to summer homes on the New Jersey shore. This vessel was sold to West Coast interests in 1918, and later converted to an automobile ferry, serving on various routes San Francisco Bay, Puget Sound and British Columbia. This vessel was known by a number of other names, including City of Sacramento, Kahloke, Langdale Queen, and Lady Grace.
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.
RML 497 is a former Royal Navy Fairmile B motor launch from World War II. She was named Western Lady III on her entry to civilian service, as a passenger motor vessel for Western Lady Ferry Service. From 2009 to 2015, she operated as The Fairmile for Greenway Ferry on their day cruise route from Torquay and Brixham to Dartmouth and Greenway. In May 2013, she was returned to her original wartime appearance. Torbay's "ferry wars" forced her removal from service, and in December 2015, RML 497 was acquired by the National Museum of the Royal Navy.
Princess Norah was a steamship which operated in British Columbia and southeastern Alaska from 1929 to 1964. From 1955 to 1958, this ship was called Queen of the North. From 1958 to 1964, the ship was called Canadian Prince. This ship should not be confused with the later similarly named motor ferry MV Queen of the North.
Princess Marguerite, Princess Marguerite II, and Princess Marguerite III was a series of Canadian coastal passenger vessels that operated along the west coast of British Columbia and into Puget Sound in Washington state almost continuously from 1925 to 1999. Known locally as "the Maggie", they saw the longest service of any vessel that carried passengers and freight between Victoria, Vancouver, and Seattle. The vessels were owned and operated by a series of companies, primarily Canadian Pacific Railway Company (CPSS) and British Columbia Steamships Corporation. The first two were part of the CPR "Princess fleet," which was composed of ships having names which began with the title "Princess". These were named after Marguerite Kathleen Shaughnessy, who was not a princess but was the daughter of Baron Thomas Shaughnessy, then chairman of the board of CPSS's parent, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR).
The Bowen Island ferry travels between Snug Cove on Bowen Island, and Horseshoe Bay in the District of West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a trip of three nautical miles across Howe Sound. A scheduled ferry has been in operation since 1921, when Bowen Island was a popular holiday destination. Prior to that year, transportation to the island was by steamship from Vancouver, with only one trip daily. The Bowen Island ferry used a fleet of small passenger vessels until 1956, when a single car ferry began passenger service, and that ferry began carrying vehicles in 1958. In 2021 the route carried in excess of 1 million passengers plus 500,000 vehicles.
Lady Cynthia was a steel-hulled passenger ship converted from a minesweeper,, which served in the coastal waters of British Columbia from 1925 to 1957. Lady Cynthia was a sistership to Lady Cecilia, also a converted minesweeper. The ship was generally referred to as the Cynthia while in service.
