Route Swartz Bay-Tsawwassen Length 168 m | Completed 1994 | |
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Name Spirit of Vancouver Island Owner British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. Operator British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. Port of registry Victoria, British Columbia | ||
Spirit of Vancouver Island is an S class ferry, part of the BC Ferries fleet. Along with the Spirit of British Columbia, the ship is the largest in the BC Ferries fleet. The ship was completed in 1994, and serves the Swartz Bay-Tsawwassen route. They will be converted in Poland to Liquefied natural gas propulsion during 2017-2018.
Incidents
On September 14, 2000 Spirit of Vancouver Island collided with the 9.72 m (about 32 ft) Star Ruby while attempting to overtake the vessel in a narrow channel. The collision occurred approximately 1 km (about ½ mi) from the Swartz Bay Terminal where the ferry had departed from. Spirit of Vancouver Island struck Star Ruby on her port side, causing the pleasure craft to flip over and eventually right itself, though swamped and heavily damaged. Two passengers aboard Star Ruby later died as a result of their injuries sustained by the collision.
On July 13, 2003, Spirit of Vancouver Island collided with the dock at Swartz Bay. Four passengers suffered minor injuries. The accident caused tens of thousands of dollars of damage to the dock and the ship.
On October 9, 2009, a standby generator on Spirit of Vancouver Island caught fire on an early morning sailing out of Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal. No one was injured in the incident however it did cause massive delays in the ferry system because of the already large volume of traffic for Thanksgiving weekend. Eight sailings were cancelled that day and the ship remained out of service for the weekend, and on 12 October, BC Ferries announced that Spirit of Vancouver Island would remain out of service through November, as the ship's refit had been moved ahead of schedule due to the fire.
