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 C-class ferries are a class of five double-ended roll-on/roll-off ferries operated by BC Ferries in the Strait of Georgia in British Columbia, all constructed between 1976 and 1981. When the vessels were first built, they were the largest ships of their kind in the world. The C-class ferries are 139.29 m (457.0 ft) long, with a car capacity of 362, and a crew and passenger capacity of 1500 persons. Each vessel's two MaK 12M551AK engines produce 11,860 HP, which provides a service speed of 22 knots.
MV Skeena Queen is a ferry built in 1997 and named after the Skeena River. She was intended to be part of a class of spartan, utilitarian ferries, in the "Century ferry class", designed by the naval architects McLaren and Sons In 1994 the 10-year plan of BC Ferries called for construction of three Century-class ferries, to service the busier Gulf Island routes in British Columbia operated by BC Ferries. The name for the class was derived from the capacity, which is approximately 100 cars. However, the only ferry of the class actually built was Skeena Queen. She runs solely on the Swartz Bay-Saltspring Island route.
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 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.
BC Ferries operates three Intermediate-class ferries:
The K-class ferries are a group of similarly designed ferries operated by both BC Ferries and TransLink in British Columbia, Canada.
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 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 20.5 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 312 and a passenger capacity for 1,494 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 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.
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 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 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 Malaspina Sky is an Intermediate-class ferry in the BC Ferries fleet built in 2008.
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.
Horseshoe Bay is a major ferry terminal owned and operated by BC Ferries in British Columbia, Canada. Located in the community of Horseshoe Bay, a neighbourhood of West Vancouver, the terminal provides a vehicle ferry link from the Lower Mainland to Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, and to Bowen Island, a small island in the southern part of Howe Sound.
Langdale Ferry Terminal is owned and operated by BC Ferries, which provides ferry services from the Sunshine Coast to the Lower Mainland, Gambier Island, and Keats Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia.
Canada