VANCOUVER -- A BC Ferries ship hit the dock at Tsawwassen ferry terminal, resulting in two cancelled departures and a four-hour disembarkment delay for some passengers.
Spokeswoman Deborah Marshall says in a statement that the Spirit of Vancouver Island made contact with the berth around 4:30 p.m. Saturday and sustained some damage.
She says no one was injured.
Two departures were cancelled that evening, though two were added later Saturday to help keep goods and traffic moving.
She says passengers travelling by foot were able to disembark as scheduled.
But the main car deck and upper vehicle deck passengers were not unloaded fully until about 8:30 p.m. as temporary repairs had to be made.
Trucker Chris Boylan was aboard the vessel when the incident happened.
"We were getting close to the dock and they told us to go down to our vehicles," Boylan said. "All of a sudden, bang. Something really hard. My chest banged against the steering wheel."
He shot video and took photos of crews working to repair the damage. He said he had been waiting to get off the ship for about four hours when he spoke to CTV News Vancouver Saturday night.
"They've been working diligently here for four hours," Boylan said. "They can't get the ramp down because the metal is sticking up about two feet, but in the process of the last couple of hours they've been cutting away that metal."
BC Ferries did not say whether the Spirit of Vancouver Island would have to stop sailing because of the incident, or for how long, but Boylan said the damage seemed significant.
"I assume this ferry's going to be out of commission for a while," he said.
With files from The Canadian Press
