A BC Ferries vessel was taken out of commission Saturday for the second weekend in a row, forcing sailing cancellations and leaving passengers frustrated once again. 

A mechanical problem on the Queen of New Westminster caused the ferry to miss two round-trips on the busy Tsawwassen-Victoria route, one on Saturday night and another on Sunday morning.

BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall said it was the same propeller issue that docked the vessel the weekend before, but that engineering crews have finally managed to fixed the problem.

"Unfortunately they didn't have it 100 per cent resolved, and we experienced a problem again on Saturday night," Marshall said. "But engineering does assure me that vessel has been repaired now."

The 54-year-old Queen of New Westminster isn't the only ferry to experience problems in recent weeks. BC Ferries has also dealt with issues on its Coastal Inspiration and Queen of Alberni, which both service the Tsawwassen-Duke Point route.

But the publicly owned company said Monday that it stands by its service.

"Our engineers work very hard to maintain our vessels, and on average we'll sail about 500 sailings in a day," Marshall said. "While it is obviously inconvenient for our customers when we're not able to provide the full service we wanted to, our engineers work very hard to maintain the vessels."

Unfortunately, BC Ferries does not have an extra vessel it can substitute in when a mechanical issue does come up.

Marshall also acknowledged the fleet is aging, but said the ferries are kept in good shape.

"Even though, say, the Queen of New Westminster is 54 years old, certainly all of her components on board are not of that age. We certainly retrofit our vessels, install new parts when required and what not," she said. "But yes, the fleet is getting older and we do have plans to keep replacing our vessels as we go along."

Missing a ferry can be frustrating, especially for passengers who miss the last sailing of the night, and some feel the service just isn't reliable enough. Duncan Lindsay, a former marine engineer, said that's one of the reasons he decided to move from Vancouver Island to the mainland after 10 years.

"Fed up with the ferries," he said.

Lindsay also told CTV News he doesn't understand why BC Ferries can't keep its ships operational.

"I worked in boats. I don't understand. You usually get a warning if something's acting up, so you prepare for it," he said.

With files from CTV Vancouver's Scott Hurst