All ferries between two of the Discovery Islands of British Columbia were canceled on Saturday due to lack of crew.
BC Ferries announced the cancellation of the route between Heriot Bay on Quadra Island and Whaletown on Cortes Island in a statement on Saturday morning. The company initially said six voyages had been canceled, but by 10am all 12 voyages on the route on Saturday had been affected.
“We require a number of crew members on board the ship to ensure the safety of our passengers in the unlikely event of an emergency and to comply with Transport Canada regulations,” the BC Ferries statement said.
“The decision to cancel the voyage in these circumstances was taken when we had exhausted all possibilities to find a replacement crew.”
The route between the islands of Quadra and Cortes is served by the ship Tachek, which was built in 1969 and has a capacity of 150 passengers and crew, as well as 26 cars.
This is the only route for BC ferries serving the island of Cortes.
“We appreciate your patience and apologize for the inconvenience you may experience as a result of these cancellations,” the company said.
BC Ferries has been battling staff shortages for months, although it is working to hire more people and welcomes back employees who were put on unpaid leave because of the federal mandate for a vaccine against COVID-19 for transport workers.
The company announced this week that it has hired approximately 850 workers since the beginning of the year. About 150 people were put on leave because of the mandate of the vaccine.
“We are still struggling to find licensed experienced officers,” BC Ferries President and CEO Mark Collins said late last month, noting that the shortage of experienced sailors has been a global problem for years.
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