A lineup at the Tsawwassen ferry terminal. Photo courtesy Nathan Skolski (twitter: @nathanocracy)
A mechanical malfunction and computer system issue for B.C. Ferries on Saturday has resulted in delays for customers.
Before the Spirit of Vancouver Island’s 7 a.m. sailing crews discovered that the vessel was experiencing a propulsion system malfunction.
As a result the 7 a.m. sailing from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen, and the 9 a.m. Sailing from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay were canceled. Customers on each side then had a one sailing wait.
A specialist technician was able to eventually fix the vessel, allowing it to depart for it’s 11 a.m. sailing from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen.
B.C. Ferries then says a computer system malfunction with their “point of sale systems” at multiple terminals meant that staff had issues verifying reservations, resulting in more delays as staff had to manually check them.
As of 11:30 a.m. there is a 2 sailing wait on the Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay route.
“[Staff] knew the Spirit of Vancouver Island was not going to make it over to Tsawwassen,” said Darin Guenette, public affairs manager for B.C. Ferries. “They were working on moving customers to other sailings but they didn’t know what the reservations were on those other sailings cause of a glitch in the system… due to those two things [the delays occurred]”
At 11 a.m. another notice was issued to customers that the Salish Raven, on a route from Tsawassen to the Southern Gulf Islands, was operating just over an hour behind schedule as staff were also experiencing the computer glitch.
At noon B.C. Ferries says the computer glitch was fixed, and that staff are working to clear the delays.
Julian Kolsut
