Change ‘can’t come fast enough’ at BC Ferries: Transport minister

With a critical vessel in drydock and an erroneous nine-sailing wait time recently posted on its website along a major route, frustration is mounting with BC Ferries.

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Rob Fleming said Wednesday improvements to technology and a “complete overhaul” of the system “can’t come soon enough” at BC Ferries, which is subsidized by hundreds of millions of provincial dollars each year.

“Yesterday we potentially turned away loads of customers. People were relying on inaccurate information and making just travelling decisions based on that. That can’t happen,” Fleming said, pushed by reporters at an unrelated Victoria press conference Wednesday.

“I know the CEO and the team there are working on ensuring that it doesn’t happen again for the remainder of the summer. This is a difficult period.”

On Tuesday, BC Ferries’ website showed a nine-sailing wait for anyone travelling from Tsawwassen in Delta to Swartz Bay in Victoria. In fact, the delay amounted to one sailing.

After the confusion, BC Ferries attributed the incorrect information to people not showing up for reservations, but acknowledged it needed to do a better job of manually overriding the system with up-to-date, correct information.

Fleming said his understanding is that the service woes are related to a “general underinvestment” and outdated IT systems that have caused problems in the past as well.

“They’ve assured our ministry it will be fixed within a week and won’t be happening again.”

Another notice posted on BC Ferries’ website is warning travellers of a possible delay in processing compensation and refund requests, noting that a high volume of applications has been received.

“Our normal response time is between seven and 14 days, but currently it may take four to six weeks. To improve our response time, we are hiring additional staff and working on process improvements,” it reads.

The volume may be linked to the thrice drydocked Coastal Celebration, which underwent an annual refit with an expected return-to-service date of June 15. While in dry dock, however, shipyard crews discovered an issue with the stern tube bearings and rudder stock, requiring sea trials before its return.

On June 28, BC Ferries revealed that the vessel would undergo an “unplanned” and “extended refit,” requiring it to reassign more than 6,600 bookings. That impacted the Canada Day long weekend and meant eight fewer daily sailings would run between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay between June 28 and July 3.

The vessel was anticipated to return to service on July 4, and on July 17, BC Ferries warned it was experiencing mechanical difficulties on its propulsion system, requiring more cancelled sailings.

Two days later, the Coastal Celebration returned to dry dock, resulting in eight fewer sailings per day between Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay.

 

On Wednesday afternoon, BC Ferries said the Coastal Celebration is on track to return to service on Friday, July 28.

However, the ferry may have limited food services on the first day of service.

“Customers with bookings on the Coastal Celebration on Friday are advised to arrive as planned,” staff said in a release.

“If there are any changes to the vessel’s scheduled return, customer care will contact them directly.”

The Coastal Celebration performs eight sailings per day between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay, and will increase capacity for passengers and vehicles travelling between Vancouver and Victoria.

The vessel carries 310 vehicles and 1604 passengers and crew.

BC Ferries has said it’s running three vessels on the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay route, but that space is limited for vehicle passengers who do not have a reservation. Meanwhile, it’s encouraging travellers to consider alternate routes between Vancouver Island and the mainland, such as the Tsawwassen-Duke Point (Nanaimo) and Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay (Nanaimo).

CEO Nicholas Jimenez has vowed to do better overall, but admits crew shortages are posing a challenge.

“Our expectation is we’ve got crews and vessels ready to go, so that is how we run the business and that is every expectation of what will happen,” he told Global News on July 5.

“Can I guarantee no one is going to get sick? can I guarantee we won’t have an emergency repair? Of course not.”

Fleming said he expects transparent public updates on the status of the Coastal Celebration as it’s “desperately needed” in the water before the next long weekend.

“There’s a number of things that the executive leadership of B.C. Ferries is taking from that poor experience to put into place for the coming long weekend, which is actually a busier, long weekend than Canada Day itself, and some of that is around customer care is certainly around up to date, accurate information,” he explained.

The B.C. government bolstered BC Ferries’ coffers with an extra $500 million in February to help prevent double-digit fare increases in the next four years, but doesn’t make direct operational decisions within the company.

“But what we can do is help support them, make investments,” he said. “What is coming in BC Ferries and happening now, is the most significant capital investment on new vessel replacements, replacing outdated technology systems and making the company future-oriented and performing at its absolute optimal best.

“It’s the third-largest ferry fleet in the world. It’s a complex operation. I would be very upset if I wasn’t seeing progress on some of the other things that were affecting the company here in late summer of 2023.”

BC Ferries has hired more than 1,200 people for the fleet this summer and is about to reopen wage talks with its unionized members.

 

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