Sailings on the new Hullo ferries were meant to kick off on Monday morning, but all sailings for the day have been cancelled due to a power outage.
A statement on the company’s website says the outages knocked out power to the ferry berth so the crew is running impact assessments to ensure it is still safe to sail.
Shortly after 3 p.m., the company made the announcement that all sailings for Aug. 14 would be cancelled.
“Safety and reliability remain our North Star at Hullo. While we recognize the anticipation and excitement surrounding our early sailings, our commitment to ensuring an impeccably safe voyage for our passengers is unwavering,” the statement says.
“As Hullo sets its course in these initial months, we are adopting a deliberately conservative stance, with the safety and well-being of our passengers steering our decisions.”
At the beginning of the day, only the first two sailings were cancelled, then around 9:30 cancelled the following two sailings. Finally at 3 p.m., the decision was made to cancel all eight of the sailings for the day.
Jara Demetrioff was looking forward to riding the first day of Hullo ferry service from Nanaimo.
“I was going to go visit my late father’s grave and my great-grandfather’s grave,” said Demetrioff.
“‘It was a big day for you?’ asked CHEK News. “Kind of. I got flowers and everything,” said Demetrioff.
“We really want this to work,” said Gabriola Island resident Steve Fenwick, who was booked on the 10 a.m. sailing Monday.
“It’s a big deal for us because to take the regular ferry, you spend more time on the ferry than you spend time in Vancouver,” said Fenwick.
Roberto Feldman was one of many passengers whose plans were cancelled but still planned to return to try again.
“Maybe tomorrow would be good,” said Feldman, a resident of Gabriola Island.
The company says the original payment method for anyone with a reservation on the cancelled sailings will be refunded. Anyone with questions is encouraged to contact [email protected].
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Laura Brougham
