BC Ferries CEO says company working on ‘customer recovery plan’ after vessel removed

A key BC Ferries C-class vessel has been removed from service due to a mechanical issue.

The Coastal Renaissance, which was operating on the Tsawwassen and Duke Point route, has an issue with a motor in the engine.

BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez said the timeline for the vessel to return to service will be measured in weeks, not days.

Jimenez gave an update on the situation on Friday and said BC Ferries is working on a customer recovery plan.

“We are working with customers who are impacted — we are doing this every day — and we will do this for as long as we need to,” he said. “We have a large team that is working continuously to contact customers and book them on other sailings, refund them and offer them free vouchers for future travel.”

1:38 BC Ferries vessel out for ‘weeks,’ causing cancellations

BC Ferries has been able to add extra capacity on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the Tsawwassen and Duke Point route.

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It also said it’s fully staffed and is working with local police detachments to prevent traffic chaos.

There is also a priority queue with customer care that has been created for those impacted.

Jimenez said the company is not done with new preparations and more actions will be taken in the coming days to address the vessel being out of service and a long weekend approaching in early September. It was not said what those preparations would be, at this time.

4:33 BC Ferries CEO addresses issues, says crews and ferries ready for long weekend

Jimenez said due to the removal of the vessel, more service changes will be announced in the coming hours and days.

“Our goal is to keep the reservation levels, which are around 85 per cent, where they are. Maintain the very small percentage of availability for other customers because we know they have certain needs that can’t be planned for,” Jimenez said.

“(We will) find people additional opportunities take sailings at other times. We are also exploring the potential to provide sailings early in the morning and late at night.”

The C-class ferries have had problems this summer, with the Coastal Celebration needing repairs in a dry dock in July.

“Our Customer Service Centre will contact customers with bookings on these cancelled sailings to let them know if we have space available to fit them on an alternate sailing later in the day, or if their booking must be cancelled,” BC Ferries staff said in an alert. “In the case of a cancellation, we will refund fees and/or fares.”

BC Ferries encourages all passengers to stay up to date by visiting its social media pages and website.