Travellers on BC Ferries connecting Greater Victoria and Greater Vancouver had to deal with cancellations and delays Sunday.
BC Ferries had already warned travellers on Thursday (June 16) that crew shortages would lead to Sunday cancellations on the route between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay, specifically the 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. sailings leaving Tsawwassen and the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. sailings leaving Swartz Bay.
But Sunday itself also held unexpected developments. Shortly after 6 p.m., BC Ferries announced the cancellation of the 7 p.m. sailing leaving Swartz Bay and the 9 p.m. sailing leaving Tsawwassen, citing crew shortages.
#ServiceNotice #Tsawwassen #SwartzBay #SpiritofVancouverIsland The following sailings today, June 19 have been cancelled due to a crewing shortage:
7:00pm ex Swartz Bay
9:00pm ex TsawwassenDetails here: https://t.co/i1Gs8OxtAB ^eb
— BC Ferries | Reconnecting BC (@BCFerries) June 20, 2022
RELATED: Sailings cancelled between Tsawwassen, Swartz Bay for second weekend in a row
A medical emergency also impacted a sailing leaving Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen earlier in the afternoon. At 1:52 p.m., BC Ferries announced on Twitter that the Spirit of British Columbia had returned to Swartz Bay due to an unspecified medical emergency experienced by a traveller.
#ServiceNotice #SwartzBay - #Tsawwassen #SpiritofBritishColumbia Has returned to Swartz Bay and is currently holding in dock due to a medical emergency experienced by one of our customers, which required immediate attention.
More info here: https://t.co/BwfjXsH9UU ^jr
— BC Ferries | Reconnecting BC (@BCFerries) June 19, 2022
Later in the afternoon at 6:56 p.m., BC Ferries posted on its website that the Spirit of British Columbia was operating 98 minutes delayed for the 5 p.m. sailing from Swartz to Tsawwassen due a medical emergency experienced by a traveller, presumably a cascading delay caused by the earlier incident. BC Ferries also shared that information on Twitter.
#ServiceNotice #SwartzBay - #Tsawwassen #SpiritofBritishColumbia departed 86 min behind schedule for the 1:00pm sailing from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen, due to a medical emergency onboard which required immediate attention.
More info here: https://t.co/Eb5HMuSdS2 ^jr
— BC Ferries | Reconnecting BC (@BCFerries) June 19, 2022
Monday’s sailing schedule also shapes up to be busy. According to BC Ferries’ website, the 7 a.m. sailing leaving Swartz Bay is already full with 30 per cent availability on the 8 a.m. sailing and 24 per cent availability on the 9 a.m. sailing respectively.
The 7 a.m sailing leaving Tsawwassen shows eight per cent availability, according to BC Ferries’ website. The 8 a.m. sailings and 9 a.m. sailings leaving Tsawwassen show 18 per cent and 25 per cent availability respectively.
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