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Ferry breaks down at Departure Bay, several sailings cancelled

B.C. Ferries vessel the Queen of Oak Bay held in dock in Nanaimo due to main engine issue
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The Queen of Oak Bay ferry is being held in dock at Departure Bay due to mechnical difficulty. (Black Press file)

Engine troubles with the Queen of Oak Bay will see the number of ferry sailings between Nanaimo and Horseshoe Bay reduced for the rest of the day.

Earlier today, B.C. Ferries announced the Queen of Oak Bay was held in dock at Departure Bay terminal due to “an issue with one of the main engines.”

Morning and early afternoon sailings were cancelled along with the 5:55 p.m. ferry leaving Departure Bay and the 3:45 p.m. sailing departing Horseshoe Bay. The Queen of Cowichan, which also services the Nanaimo to West Vancouver run, continues to operate with 3:20 p.m. and 8 p.m. sailings from Departure Bay and 5:40 p.m. and 10:10 p.m. sailings from Horseshoe Bay still on schedule.

Deborah Marshall, spokesperson for B.C. Ferries, apologized for the inconvenience and said work is being done to resolve the issue.

“With regards the Queen of Oak Bay, we experienced a mechanical problem with an oil cooler on one of the main engines,” said Marshall in an e-mail. “Engineers are making repairs but it will be out of service for the remainder of the day.”

Marshall said reservations will be automatically refunded, but also stated that traffic is quite low due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

READ ALSO: B.C. Ferries halts food service amid COVID-19

READ ALSO: B.C. Ferries able to restrict travel for sick passengers



reporter@nanaimobulletin.com

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Karl Yu

About the Author: Karl Yu

After interning at Vancouver Metro free daily newspaper, I joined Black Press in 2010.
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