BC Ferries warns crew shortages due to COVID-19, other factors could lead to service disruptions

Vancouver -

BC Ferries is warning travellers staffing shortages due to illness and other factors could cause service disruptions over the next several weeks, and some sailings have already been affected.

On Monday, executive director of public affairs Deborah Marshall said it’s an unusual notification, but they wanted to let customers know they’re having challenges staffing vessels.

“We have seen a few disruptions already,” she said. “This morning on the Tsawwassen-Duke Point run we did have to cancel the first round trip due to a crew shortage, over the weekend we did see some disruption on the Texada-Powell River run, and in December we did see some service interruptions on the Gabriola Island run.”

While the highly transmissible Omicron variant is one reason, Marshall said there are also other issues at play.

“It’s almost like a perfect storm right now,” she said. “We’ve also had a lot of severe weather lately... and then to top it all off there is actually a worldwide shortage of mariners.”

Marshall added they have a mandatory vaccination policy for employees, which has led to some being off work.

“By far the vast majority of our staff have complied with the mandatory vaccination policy,” she said. “It’s actually fewer than five per cent of our staff who have chosen not to get vaccinated or are looking for accommodation.”

Marshall said last month they had about 30 per cent of staff calling in sick at various times, which is higher than normal. Just last week, the provincial health officer warned businesses to anticipate as many as a third of their workforce may become ill at any one time due to COVID-19.

“We’re envisioning it will be the next couple of months, and that’s why we did want to put our customers on notice that we are having some challenges,” Marshall said. “Please be patient with our staff. They’re working very hard to deliver a safe and efficient service, but on occasion we do foresee having some service interruptions due to crewing levels.”

Marshall said they are hoping to avoid service disruptions if they can through a variety of mitigation measures, including employees trained to work different positions and multiple routes, the use of overtime, and even water taxis on smaller routes if need be.

Travellers are being encouraged to check the status of their sailings online beforehand.