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.
Prince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Its location is on Kaien Island near the Alaskan panhandle. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and has a population of 12,220 people as of 2016.
The Alaska Marine Highway (AMH) or the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) is a ferry service operated by the U.S. state of Alaska. It has its headquarters in Ketchikan, Alaska.
BC Ferries operates two T-class ferries for use on small inter-island routes. They have raised bows, which make it easier for the ships to travel in the rough seas often found on British Columbia's central coast. The ferries carry 30 cars and 150 passengers. Both were built in 1969. They were originally owned and operated by the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation until 1985, when the Ministry's saltwater ferries and routes were transferred to BC Ferries, including the T class. The two T-class ferries are Tachek and Quadra Queen II.
The Port of Prince Rupert is a seaport managed by the Prince Rupert Port Authority that occupies 667,731 hectares of land and water along 20 kilometres of waterfront. The port is located in Prince Rupert Harbour in the North Coast Regional District of British Columbia.
Allied Shipbuilders Ltd is a privately held shipbuilding and ship repairing company established in Canada in 1948.
Lax-Kwʼalaams, previously called Port Simpson until 1986, is an Indigenous village community in British Columbia, Canada, not far from the city of Prince Rupert. It is located on Port Simpson Indian Reserve No. 1, which is shared with other residential communities of the Tsimshian Nation. The Nine Allied Tribes are: Gilutsʼaaw, Ginadoiks, Ginaxangiik, Gispaxloʼots, Gitando, Gitlaan, Gitsʼiis, Gitwilgyoots, and Gitzaxłaał.
Metlakatla, British Columbia is a small community that is one of the seven Tsimshian village communities in British Columbia, Canada. It is situated at Metlakatla Pass near Prince Rupert, British Columbia. It is the one Tsimshian village in Canada that is not associated with one particular tribe or set of tribes out of the Tsimshian nation's 14 constituent tribes.
MV Northern Adventure is a roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferry operated by BC Ferries. She sails two routes: the scenic Inside Passage route between Port Hardy and Prince Rupert and the Haida Gwaii crossing between Prince Rupert and Skidegate. The vessel was laid down by Atsalakis-Sidironaftiki shipyard on 11 September 2001 at their yard in Perama, Greece. The ship was launched on 19 October 2002 under the name Adamantios Korais. However, construction was delayed and the vessel was not completed until 19 July 2004 under the name Sonia, and later Sonia X. The ferry was chartered by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for use on a route between Port of Spain, Trinidad and Scarborough, Tobago. In 2006, the ferry was acquired by BC Ferries and entered service under her current name Northern Adventure in 2007.
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.
Victoria Machinery Depot Ltd. was a historic metalworks and shipyard in Victoria, Canada.
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, it 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, where it was converted to a dual-fuel system to allow liquefied natural gas propulsion. The vessel returned to service in 2019.
MV Nimpkish is an N-class ferry formerly owned by BC Ferries. It is 33.93 metres (111.3 ft) long, holds 12 vehicles and 95 passengers, and its maximum speed is 11 knots. Nimpkish entered service with the Ministry of Transportation's Salt Water division in 1973, and was built in Vancouver to serve the inter-island routes. The vessel was transferred to BC Ferries in 1985. It formerly did runs on the Discovery Coast Connector service, a summer-only route linking Port Hardy, Bella Bella, Shearwater, Klemtu, Ocean Falls and Bella Coola.
MV Queen of Chilliwack was a ferry owned by BC Ferries, built in Norway in 1978, then known as Bastø I. The ferry route she was assigned to was the Moss–Horten Ferry in the Oslofjord.
MV Mill Bay was a Canadian ferry. At 37.49 metres (123 ft) long, it was BC Ferries' second-smallest ship. It holds 16 vehicles, 138 passengers and crew, and its maximum speed is 9 knots (17 km/h). The Mill Bay operated in the Brentwood Bay-Mill Bay route across Saanich Inlet on Vancouver Island.
The MV Tenaka is a ferry previously owned by BC Ferries. She was built for BC's Ministry of Transportation and Highways in 1964 in Victoria, British Columbia by the Victoria Machinery Depot. Originally named the Comox Queen, she was renamed Tenaka in 1977 and became part of BC Ferries' fleet in 1985 when the Ministry of Transportation's saltwater ferries and routes were transferred to BC Ferries. As of April 2016, the Tenaka was sold to Lady Rose Marine Services, a tourism company operating out of Port Alberni, British Columbia.
N-class ferries are a class of RORO ferries, of which one remaining example is owned by BC Ferries and has the distinction of being the smallest vessel in their fleet.
The MV Northern Sea Wolf is a roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferry operated by BC Ferries in British Columbia, Canada. Her normal sailing schedule is five days a week during the peak summer season on the Inside Passage route connecting Bella Coola and Port Hardy. The route normally takes about ten hours to complete. Her schedule calls for one trip per day during daylight hours to maximize passenger enjoyment of the scenery.
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