BC Ferries's Queen of New Westminster will be out of service for half a year for repairs.
The 60-year-old vessel has already been out of service since Tuesday (Sept. 3) after the ship lost its propeller and spilled 800 litres of oil.
BC Ferries said Saturday that crews were able to recover the propeller from the seabed earlier in the morning, but the required repairs will take the ferry out of service for about six months. It added that a "preliminary visual inspection" showed a fracture of the propeller shaft that could be related to "structural fatigue."
The 10,000-pound propeller was found half-submerged in the seabed and took two days to recover, BC Ferries said in a news release. The work could only be done at night when other vessels weren't travelling the route.
The repairs will include work on both the port and starboard propeller systems, which means a "complete disassembly of of both systems and the replacement of the tail shaft on at least the starboard side, which must be specially manufactured."
BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez said this situation highlights the "clear need for resiliency" in the company's fleet. He added they will be seeking approval from the Ferry Commissioner to build and add another vessel for major routes.
“If we had a backup vessel available, this incident would have had minimal impact on service. It underscores the importance of our fleet renewal strategy to ensure we have the capacity and resilience to manage unexpected issues and vessel repairs.”
The Queen of New Westminster sails between Swartz Bay in Greater Victoria and Tsawwassen.
BC Ferries is still assessing the full impact on sailing schedules, but it had already cancelled all of the Queen of New Westminster's sailings through to Sept. 30.
