Vehicle passengers aboard a Saturday afternoon sailing between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen were stuck on the vessel for hours after the ferry was damaged while docking.
The Spirit of Vancouver Island had “a hard landing” when it hit the dock in Tsawwassen around 4:30 p.m. Saturday, said B.C. Ferries communications manager Tessa Humphries.
“There were no injuries, but there was some damage sustained by the boat.”
The damage occurred toward the bow end of both vehicle decks, Humphries said.
Crews performed welding work to lower the ship’s ramps in order to offload passengers from both vehicle decks, Humphries said. Foot passengers were not affected, she said.
“The upper vehicle deck was unloaded first, about an hour, an hour and a half after the incident, and then the main vehicle deck, they effected temporary repairs as well, and everyone was unloaded by about 8:30 p.m.,” Humphries said.
Wren Handman was on the upper car deck when the boat docked. “There was a definite crunching kind of crashing noise, but it didn’t feel like a big deal. I hadn’t actually realized we hit something. There was just kind of like a sort of shake and the whole boat kind of lurched forwards a bit.”
She realized there was a problem when she saw the ship’s ramp come down and ferry crew gathered around to inspect it.
Handman said she drove off the ferry around 6 p.m.
Ferry passenger numbers have been down about 80 per cent in recent weeks due to COVID-19 and vessels are operating at a maximum of 50 per cent capacity. Humphries estimated the upper vehicle deck on the boat was about half full.
“We certainly do apologize to our customers onboard and appreciate their patience,” she said.
The vessel has been pulled for service while crews investigate the extent of the damage, Humphries said. The damage to the berth was minor.
The incident led to the cancellation of a 5 p.m. departure from Tsawwassen and a 7 p.m. sailing out of Swartz Bay.
B.C. Ferries added a round trip leaving Tsawwassen at 9 p.m. and Swartz Bay at 11 p.m.
