A ceremony for the planned passenger-only Nanaimo-Vancouver ferry is set for Wednesday afternoon at the Nanaimo Port Authority.
Port lands will be developed for 400 parking spaces for travellers, to handle traffic and transit at the site and for a guest welcome area, said a statement from the Vancouver Island Ferry Company.
No start date has been announced. Late in 2022, backers of the service said the 70-minute “affordable” journey would begin this summer using two diesel-fuelled ferries.
Observers will be looking for details on fare prices and the number and times of sailings.
The Nanaimo-based ferries will have capacity for 350 passengers, a spokesman said earlier.
They will run under a yet-to-be announced brand, said the company. Photos of the completed high-speed vessels will be displayed at the Wednesday event.
A quick ferry service between Nanaimo and downtown Vancouver has arisen repeatedly as an issue in past municipal elections.
Nanaimo is the second largest municipality by population on Vancouver Island, with 100,000 residents, and is growing rapidly.
B.C. Ferries runs sailings out of Nanaimo but they do not go to downtown Vancouver. Those vessels travel to Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver and to Tsawwassen.
Previous efforts have been made to set up such a service but none survived for long.
The ferry company has penned a 30-year lease with the Nanaimo port and is fully funded, a spokesman said earlier. Conqora Capital Partners of Toronto is one of the investors.
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