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 (at Fulford Harbour) route (except for a brief four-day trial on the Horseshoe Bay to Bowen Island run from April 23 to April 26, 1998 and providing partial coverage between Swartz Bay and Pender Island in Spring of 2018 due to another vessel being removed from service for repairs).
There is some speculation[by whom?] as to why the other two vessels in the class were not built. The obvious reason[according to whom?] is that the high speed ferry program consumed all available funds. Others[who?] point to the problems with the four owner selected main propulsion engines that plagued Skeena Queen following commission, including excessively high noise levels and cylinder counterbore cracking in the high-speed engines. On April 15, 2002 Skeena Queen was removed from service and her four high-speed Mitsubishi S12R diesel engines were replaced with four Mitsubishi medium-speed engines, model S6U. The new engines were provided by Mitsubishi at a never disclosed price.
Skeena Queen has the following characteristics:
Overall length: 110.0 m
Gross tonnage: 2,453
Vehicle capacity: 100 spaces 17.5 feet long by 8.5 feet wide
Passenger and crew capacity: 600
Service Speed: 14.5 knots (16.7mph; 26.9km/h) at 3500bhp
Installed Power: 5,040hp (3.8 MW)
Skeena Queen has very little cabin space because the Century ferry class was intended to be used on short commuter runs of less than a half-hour duration where most of the passengers stay in their vehicles. Skeena Queen operates solely on the route between Swartz Bay and Fulford Harbour, which is a 35-minute crossing.
A ferry is a vessel used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi.
The fast ferry scandal was a political affair in the late 1990s relating to the construction of three fast ferries by the Canadian provincial crown corporation BC Ferries under direction of the Executive Council of British Columbia, headed at the time by Premier Glen Clark of the New Democratic Party.
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.
S-class ferries are roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferries operated by BC Ferries in British Columbia, Canada. They are the largest ferries in the BC Ferries fleet. The class comprises two ships, Spirit of British Columbia and Spirit of Vancouver Island, which were completed in 1993 and 1994 respectively. They serve the ferry route between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay. In 2017, the class underwent conversion to a dual-fuel propulsion system that would allow them to use either marine diesel fuel or liquefied natural gas.
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.
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 1982.
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.
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 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 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 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 Coastal Celebration is the third and final Coastal-class ship to be delivered to BC Ferries. The class comprises some of the largest double-ended ferries in the world. The vessel completed construction in 2008 and entered service the same year. Unlike her sister ships, Coastal Renaissance and Coastal Inspiration, Coastal Celebration is equipped with a Pacific Buffet for service on the Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen route.
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.
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.
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.
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.
MV Spirit of British Columbia is an S-class ferry, part of the BC Ferries fleet active along the British Columbia coast. It and Spirit of Vancouver Island represent the two largest ships in the fleet. The ship was completed in 1993 and serves the Tsawwassen–Swartz Bay route. In 2018, it underwent a mid-life refit that included conversion to a dual-fuel system that allows it to use either marine diesel oil or liquefied natural gas.
The MV Quinitsa is an automobile ferry operated by BC Ferries. It was built in 1977 by Vancouver Shipyards in Vancouver, British Columbia. The ferry was originally part of the Ministry of Transportation and Highways' (MoT) saltwater ferry fleet until 1985, when the MoT's saltwater ferries—including Quinitsa—were transferred to BC Ferries.
The Salish-class vessels are four intermediate-capacity ferries operated by BC Ferries and were built in 2016 at Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. in Gdańsk, Poland. They were the first dual-fuel powered vessels in British Columbia service, capable of using liquified natural gas or diesel oil to operate. Salish Orca entered service on the Comox–Powell River route in May 2017. Salish Eagle entered service on the Tsawwassen–Southern Gulf Islands route in June 2017. Salish Raven entered service for the Southern Gulf Islands on August 3, 2017. These vessels replaced Queen of Nanaimo and Queen of Burnaby.
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