The third and final of B.C. Ferries’ new Salish Class vessels is on its way to British Columbia.
Fuelled by natural gas, Salish Raven left shipyards in Gdansk, Poland on Friday for a 10,440-nautical-mile journey that will take 45 to 55 days, depending on weather.
The journey will include stops for refuelling in Santa Cruz, Canary Islands and Panama City, Panama. The vessel will transit the Panama Canal and sail up the west coast of North America to Victoria.
The Salish Raven is to be put into service in the Southern Gulf Islands in the fall.
The vessel can be tracked during its journey at vesselfinder.com.
“This is a major milestone in our new-build program as Salish Raven, the final vessel in this series, is now making its way to British Columbia,” said Mark Collins, B.C. Ferries’ chief executive. “With these new vessels, we continue to move towards standardization of our fleet, which offers interoperability and lower crew training and maintenance costs, and also enhances safety.”
The first of the Salish Class vessels, the Salish Orca, will be introduced into service next month on the Powell River-Comox route.
Salish Eagle, the second of the vessels, will start service on the Tsawwassen-Southern Gulf Islands route in late June.
All three Salish Class vessels are 105 metres long and can each carry 145 vehicles and 600 passengers. They cost a total of about $200 million.
The artwork created to adorn Salish Raven was designed by Musqueam Nation’s Thomas Cannell. It will be applied on the ship when it arrives in B.C.
