As the Spirit of British Columbia was sailing from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen, the anchor deployed causing the ship to stop.
According to Deborah Marshall, spokesperson for BC Ferries, crew is working to retrieve the anchor.
“There is no danger to the vessel or the passengers on board,” Marshall said in an email. “The crew are working on retrieving the anchor. The ship will get underway as soon as possible.”
#BCFHeadsUp #SpiritofBritishColumbia 1pm sailing from #SwartzBay – #Tsawwassen is currently experiencing starboard anchor issue. Vessel holding off Georgina point. Crew continue to troubleshoot. More to follow. ^dk
— BC Ferries (@BCFerries) December 2, 2022
As a result, the 3 p.m. leaving Vancouver and the 5 p.m. leaving Victoria have been cancelled.
#ServiceNotice #Tsawwassen #SwartzBay #SpiritofBritishColumbia Due to a mechanical issue with the starboard anchor, the following sailings today (Dec. 2) have been cxl'd:
3:00 pm ex #Vancouver
5:00 pm ex #VictoriaMore info here: https://t.co/CEnyp3ifWD ^ts
— BC Ferries (@BCFerries) December 2, 2022
The BC Ferries tracker shows the ferry stopped near Galiano Island.
The circle icon shows where the Spirit of British Columbia has stopped, while the arrow shows the location of the Spirit of Vancouver Island. (BC Ferries)
Sandra Harding, who is on board the vessel, says passengers on board have been told it will be about 20 minutes before the situation is resolved.
She says her son had wanted to sit at the front of the ship, so they were right beside the anchor when it dropped.
“At first there was a couple of bangs and it was kind of windy we thought it was something moving around,” Harding said.
“Then the whole boat started shaking and then all the smoke and sparks started coming out of the front there like in the video and then there was a huge bang and everybody jumped up. And then the boat stopped and the staff came and they were yelling for everybody to evacuate to the back of the boat.”
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Anchor is twisted and they are trying to raise it. All relatively calm. Chief Steward just said delay could be quite a while.
— nupqu ʔa·kǂam̓ (@Skink00ts) December 2, 2022
I am very grateful for all @BCFerries staff who are managing the anchor incident onboard the Spirit of British Columbia. They are doing a great job.
— nupqu ʔa·kǂam̓ (@Skink00ts) December 3, 2022
Laura Brougham
