BC Ferries is aiming for a smooth long weekend, but no guarantees

During a rare news conference involving top brass, BC Ferries’ CEO insisted that the corporation has pulled-out all the stops to ensure it’s smooth sailing this B.C. Day long weekend, but stopped short of guaranteeing it.

The vow of extra staff, a full fleet of vessels and a better website follows a disastrous few weeks at the ferries.

“It is clear to me that we have struggled,” admitted CEO Nicholas Jimenez. “We have challenges in our business that cannot be fixed overnight.”

The August long weekend is the busiest of the year for B.C. Ferries.

They are expecting some 580,000 passengers and 210,000 vehicles.

The corporation expects volume to peak on Thursday and Friday afternoon, and on Saturday morning, as passengers travel from the Mainland to Vancouver Island.

It will be busy again when most people return, likely on Monday and Tuesday morning.

Jimenez is hoping for smoother sailing than the rough ride passengers had during the Canada Day long weekend. Sailing were canceled when the Coastal Celebration was out of service.

Then last week, the website indicated there was a nine-sailing wait, when there wasn’t.

“Each day this B.C. Day long weekend almost 1,800 team members are going to be onboard our ships and in our terminals helping customers get to their destinations,” added Jimenez. “What’s more, we have key licensed officers for critical positions on standby this weekend in the event of a staffing shortage.”

And should there be any issues with ships, the corporation vows “to deal with them as expeditiously as possible.”