Not good news with the Queen of Nanaimo...out of service and no plan as yet... BC Ferries new release today.. For Immediate Release 13-032 November 3, 2013 QUEEN OF NANAIMO SUSTAINED DAMAGE IN HIGH WIND INCIDENT Sailings temporarily cancelled between Tsawwassen – Southern Gulf Islands VICTORIA – BC Ferries’ Queen of Nanaimo, which usually sails on the Tsawwassen – Southern Gulf Islands route, sustained damage to the starboard aft side of the vessel during a high wind incident yesterday. The vessel has been removed from service until further notice. Divers conducted a full underwater inspection of the ship last night and confirmed damage to the starboard side propeller and shafting, as well as a limited portion of the aft hull. A full investigation is underway in order to determine the root cause and events leading up to the incident and the subsequent damage. The Queen of Nanaimo does require drydocking to affect repairs. BC Ferries is treating this with the utmost priority to make arrangements to secure a drydock to make the necessary repairs and return the vessel to operational service as soon as possible. Customers will be updated as soon as the full out-of-service timeframe is determined. At this point, it is anticipated that the Queen of Nanaimo will most likely be out of service for at least a week. ALL SCHEDULED SAILINGS BETWEEN TSAWWASSEN AND THE SOUTHERN GULF ISLANDS ARE TEMPORARILY CANCELLED until further notice. Service to all Southern Gulf Island destinations is being provided through Swartz Bay. Due to fleet refits currently underway, another vessel is not available to replace the Queen of Nanaimo. In the meantime, BC Ferries’ Operations and Customer Care teams are reviewing opportunities to enhance throughfare processes for customers BC Ferries will issue an update tomorrow when more information is available.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 19:05:47 +0000