Just an hour and 14 minutes after cancelling all of the sailings on Coastal Celebration, BC Ferries says the issue has been resolved and the sailings are restored.
At 7 a.m. the company said there was a mechanical difficulty with the number two drive motor, resulting in the four scheduled sailings being cancelled.
Then, at 8:14 a.m., the company announced the issue was resolved and sailings on the Coastal Celebration were restored.
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#ServiceNotice The earlier mech difficulty on the #CoastalCelebration has been resolved. The vessel will sail as scheduled for the rest of the day.
– 12:00 pm ex #SwartzBay
– 2:00 pm ex #Tsawwassen
– 4:00 pm ex Swartz Bay
– 6:00 pm ex TsawwassenMore: https://t.co/N8twWBLDi8^ed
— BC Ferries (@BCFerries) November 17, 2023
However, a notice on the BC Ferries website says the Coastal Celebration will continue to operate on an altered route, which will add 15 minutes to the sailing time.
The Coastal class vessels have two drive motors that operate a propeller at either end of the ferry. The ferries cannot operate without both drive motors operating, because it needs both in order to dock and undock.
This essentially means that the ferry could move in one direction, but not the other, which also affects the vessel’s ability to reverse out of dock, so it cannot turn around and just run in one direction.
This is the second time this year that the Coastal Celebration has experienced mechanical difficulties.
On July 19, it was pulled due to an ineffective blade seal. It was out of service for one week for the repair.
In October last year, the Coastal Celebration had to take an altered route, resulting in longer sailing times, due to an issue with a drive motor.
Coastal Renaissance remains out of service
The Coastal Renaissance typically sails between Duke Point and Tsawwassen, but has been out of service for months due to an issue with the number two drive motor.
BC Ferries says it has been determined that the drive motors on all three Coastal class vessels need to be replaced, which is why the Coastal Celebration is running on an altered route.
The Coastal Renaissance was pulled from service on Aug. 16, and is not expected to be able to be back in service until mid-December.
The rotor in the drive motor had to be sent to Indiana to be fixed, according to BC Ferries.
Laura Brougham
