There will be eight fewer daily sailings between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay from June 28 to July 3
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Travellers taking the ferry between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland on the busy Canada Day long weekend may need to pack plenty of patience as B.C. Ferries announced the cancellation of 48 sailings due to ongoing repair work on one of its vessels.
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The Coastal Celebration has been undergoing maintenance work on its propulsion system, and was due to return to service on June 15.
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However, due to “unexpected complications,” the vessel was unable to return from the dry dock as scheduled.
That means there will be eight fewer daily sailings on the Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay route from June 28 to July 3.
More than 6,600 bookings on the Celebration were affected. Passengers and vehicles were rebooked on alternate sailings on one of three other vessels on the route, said the ferry company. There have been no booking cancellations, it added.
In a statement, B.C. Ferries president and CEO Nicolas Jimenez thanked customers for their flexibility. “I can assure all travellers that our engineers are working closely with shipyard crews to expedite repairs so the Coastal Celebration can safely get back on the water as soon as possible,” he said.
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B.C. Ferries said customers with reservations won’t be affected by the Celebration’s delayed return to service, but people travelling without a confirmed booking are encouraged to go as foot passengers given the limited number of spaces for standby vehicles on each sailing.
The company said it is preparing for the expected lines and sailing waits at Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen terminals by opening all ticket booths and boosting the number of traffic flaggers.
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The Coastal Celebration is expected to return to service on July 4, pending a successful sea trial.
Meanwhile, B.C. Ferries’ online and phone reservation systems were out of service for about 90 minutes on Wednesday afternoon.
At around 1:30 p.m., the company said its online and call centre reservations systems were “unavailable.” The website was restored just after 3 p.m.
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2023-06-28 22:33:41Z
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