One ferry on the Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen has managed to get back on schedule after an earlier delay, but the other is still running behind schedule.
The Coastal Celebration was held in dock at Swartz Bay and the Queen of New Westminster was held in dock at Tsawwassen.
BC Ferries says the 8 a.m. Queen of New Westminster left 47 minutes late, and the 7:45 a.m. Coastal Celebration sailing got underway 51 minutes late.
“Despite the delay, please arrive during the check-in window noted in your booking confirmation email to maintain your reserved status,” BC Ferries says in a notice on its website.
“This ensures we can stage your vehicle at the terminal ahead of standby customers and those reserved on later sailings.”
BC Ferries says it was just a coincidence that a replacement crew member was needed on two separate ferries on the Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen route.
As of 1 p.m., the notice that the Queen of New Westminster had been removed, but a notice was still posted that the Coastal Celebration is running 42 minutes behind schedule.
This wasn’t the only issue the company was facing on Friday.
In the afternoon, the card payment vendor the company uses experienced an outage, meaning BC Ferries was unable to process card payments. However, the disruption has since been restored.
SEE ALSO: ‘Canada’s top payment solutions provider’ experiencing outage affecting card payments
Story continues below
#ServiceNotice
A replacement crew member has arrived and the #CoastalCelebration has resumed service with the 7:45 am sailing from #SwartzBay to #Tsawwassen. The vessel is currently running 51 minutes behind schedule.More: https://t.co/i1LyPdZfa5 ^be
— BC Ferries (@BCFerries) December 22, 2023
#ServiceNotice
The #QueenofNewWestminster will hold in dock at #Vancouver as the vessel awaits a replacement crew member. The 8:00 am sailing from #Tsawwassen to #SwartzBay will be delayed approximately 60 minutes as a result.More: https://t.co/UwvJSkhMRA ^be
— BC Ferries (@BCFerries) December 22, 2023
This delay comes as BC Ferries is entering one of its busiest travel weekends of the year.
The company added 152 extra sailings across its routes to accommodate the extra traffic.
READ PREVIOUS: BC Ferries adds festive sailings ahead of the Christmas weekend
According to BC Ferries, Dec. 23 is the busiest travel day before Christmas Day, then after the busiest will be Dec. 26 and 27.
Laura Brougham
