People travelling between Vancouver Island and Denman Island experienced some delays in sailing Wednesday afternoon and into the evening as a prawn trap got caught up in one of the cables of the Baynes Sound Connector ferry.
BC Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall said the company was forced to cancel several round trips last night.
“We tried to get a water taxi to provide service but due to the weather and location of water taxis, that wasn’t possible,” she explained.
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The cable ferry did resume service last night to get all the customers who were waiting home to Denman/Hornby Island.
As of Thursday morning, the route is being serviced by the Quadra Queen II while the company is inspecting the sheave or roller mechanism on one cable on the Baynes Sound Connector. It began operating with the scheduled 6:40 a.m. sailing.
The vehicle capacity of the Quadra Queen II is less than the Baynes Sound Connector and customers are advised that shuttling may be required. Customers should also be aware of traffic pattern changes at both Denman West and Buckley Bay due to the Quadra Queen II operating from the alternate berths.
Marshall said BC Ferries expects the cable ferry to resume service Thursday afternoon.
Daniel Arbour, Area A (Baynes Sound - Denman/Hornby islands) Director for the Comox Valley Regional District said BC Ferries’ statements on the performance of the cable ferry are starting to wear thin on island communities.
“The vessel is not only under-sized for traffic needs, but hoped-for operating savings don’t seem to have realized while reliability has equally gone down.”
erin.haluschak@comoxvalleyrecord.com
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