A pair of new high-speed catamaran ferries sailing under the brand Hullo will begin offering up to seven round-trip sailings a day between Nanaimo and Vancouver in late summer, says the Vancouver Island Ferry Co.
Each trip on the 354-passenger walk-on ferries will take 70 minutes. Sailing schedules and fares will be released in early June, the company said.
Next month, the vessels are expected to leave Vietnam, where they were built by Damen Shipyards, to sail to Vancouver Island.
“The vessels are built and going through rigorous sea trials and the terminal areas are in the process of being upgraded to welcome our guests,” said Alastair Caddick, chief executive of the Nanaimo-based Vancouver Island Ferry Co., which held a ground-breaking Wednesday at the Port of Nanaimo, where the ferries will be based.
Facilities in Nanaimo will include a 400-space parking lot, EV charging and a guest welcome area.
Ferries will leave from Port Drive in Nanaimo to dock at the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre at Burrard Landing, at 1055 Canada Place.
The plan is for the vessels to depart early enough to allow Island commuters to get to downtown Vancouver offices for work, and return late enough so Nanaimo residents can take in an event or concert in Vancouver and be back home the same night.
Passengers will be able to reserve seats in three service levels: comfort, premium and business, with free Wi-Fi.
Vancouver Island Ferry Co. is just the latest in a string of companies to attempt a sustainable passenger ferry service between Nanaimo and Vancouver. It says it has lined up long-term partnerships with Snuneymuxw First Nation, the Nanaimo Port Authority and the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre.
Jenn Houtby-Ferguson, Tourism Nanaimo’s interim executive director, says he is eager to see the service begin. “It’s an opportunity for tourism to bring guests from the Lower Mainland to the Island and for folks already on the Island to go back and forth,” she said, adding the service will bring opportunities for special events and meetings. “The community is excited.”
Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog also has high hopes for the ferry service, which he says will allow people to live in Nanaimo and go to work in Vancouver in a timely way, while those headed to Vancouver for medical appointments will have a comfortable way to get back and forth.
Krog said the ferry service will also allow the community to grow its tourism sector. “It means conventioneers can come from Vancouver, arrive in literally downtown Nanaimo, go to the hotel, attend their convention, do some tourist activities and head home without taking a car.”
A long-awaited hotel recently opened in downtown Nanaimo to serve the Vancouver Island Convention Centre and others. “All the pieces are falling into place,” Krog said.
