Victoria Clipper has halted all sailings until May 20, almost a month longer than expected.
This follows the original announcement made on Tuesday to immediately halt all sailings until April 30th to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“This decision is in conjunction with our parent company, FRS, who has suspended all worldwide ferry service operations until May 20 as a measure of worldwide health, safety and precaution in disease prevention,” Vice President of Marketing Scott Meis said in a statement.
The Victoria Clipper V normally carries passengers in between Victoria and Seattle, Wash. – one of the largest epicentres of the outbreak in North America.
“As we all know, this is an unpredictable path forward at this point and time. FRS and Clipper’s primary focus remains on returning back to service as soon as possible,” confirmed Meis.
Another ferry to Washington, the Black Ball Ferry Line, announced Wednesday they will stop all sailings from March 30th to April 30th. In the meantime they are only transporting residents trying to get home and commercial cargo.
The Clipper’s Canadian union employees, Unifor Local 114, will be placed on temporary layoffs starting March 24. They will be invited back to work as operations start up again in a couple months.
Rebecca Lawrence
