Did you try traveling to Vancouver Island today from Salt Spring’s Vesuvius terminal to Crofton? Did you get on the ferry? Like many others, I didn’t. Why? The ferry left 1/3 empty. Yes, you read that right. The ferry was 1/3 empty and I and 20+ other cars didn’t make it on, more than once.

BC Ferries, why are boats leaving the terminal today 1/3 empty with many, many cars left behind on multiple runs?

Speaking with one of the ship’s mates he said it was because the terminal had no attendants to manage vehicle types while trying to load the smaller, temporary vessel being used during the refit of the regular ferry that runs this route. Fine, no problem, we get it. Boats need to be refit, smaller boats often take their place. He also said the crew was new at working together and were learning how to load balance this refit boat. Yes, you read that correctly. He said there was an inexperienced crew on a smaller refit boat running 1/3 empty leaving islanders behind.

What is going on when boat after boat leaves 1/3 empty leaving many clearly upset and inconvenienced people behind?

We deserve better and we deserve answers. There couldn’t possibly be a good reason that BC Ferries couldn’t have been planned for, or managed more effectively, that has boats leaving people behind while they sail away 1/3 empty.

Watch the video to see what was happening today.