VANCOUVER - The queen is dead, but her spirit lives on.

Almost a year after the B.C. Ferries flagship Queen of the North struck an island and sank in northern coastal waters, a replacement vessel was dedicated in Vancouver on Saturday.

The Northern Adventure -- formerly the MV Sonia -- is due to enter service on the province's two northern ferry routes in early April.

The ship was rechristened by Lt.-Gov. Iona Campagnolo.

She paid tribute to the crew and also to the people of Hartley Bay who rescued the 99 passengers and crew who fled the sinking Queen of the North when it sank last March 22.

"It is my happy duty to join you today to wish all who sail aboard the Northern Adventure from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert at first, and later from Prince Rupert to Haida Gwaii, Godspeed. Bravo Zulu,'' said Campagnolo, who began her political career in Prince Rupert.

Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond said the arrival of the ship was an exciting development for all of B.C.

"Let's face it, the fleet was getting tired,'' he said. "It's a terrible way to have end up replacing a vessel but this is a great day to see this kind of outcome.''

Prince Rupert hotelier Steve Smith was also on hand for the rededication.

He said the loss of the Queen of the North impacted the tourism business all over the province.

"It's been devastating to a lot of businesses,'' he said.

B.C. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said the new ferry becomes part of a "world-class transportation system.''

"This vessel will travel along a route that has some of the most historic and striking coast Canada has to offer,'' Falcon said. "I'm extraordinarily proud of the fact that our government is providing the ferry corporation with the additional tens of millions of dollars annually that are necessary to bring not only the Northern Adventure on stream but also the new, under-construction Northern Explorer.''

Ferry corporation president David Hahn said the sinking of the Queen of the North was the start of a difficult period for the company.

"We actually made the most out of a very difficult situation,'' he said. "Everyone inside the company was looking throughout the world to find the right vessel and . . . lo and behold, we did.''

The MV Sonia was bought from Greece for $50.6 million and arrived last December for an $18-million refit before entering service.

The 117-metre vessel has 70 staterooms and will accommodate over 600 passengers and 101 vehicles.

The refit included customized steel work to reconstruct the Sonia's stern loading ramp to fit Vancouver Island's docks in Port Hardy, Prince Rupert, Skidegate in the Queen Charlotte Islands, and McLoughlin Bay in Bella Bella.

Last month, the ship spent three weeks at the ferry company's facility in Richmond for crew training and certification.

The Queen of the North primarily plied the route between Prince Rupert and Port Hardy on the northern tip of Vancouver Island.

The aging Queen of Prince Rupert makes the run between Prince Rupert and the Queen Charlotte Islands. She too is due to be replaced in the spring of 2009.

B.C. Ferries has said the former Sonia was built in 2004, but Public Eye Online reports that a parliamentarian in Trinidad and Tobago, where the ship once sailed between the two Caribbean islands, was actually registered three years earlier.

The Queen of the North was doing almost 19 knots -- almost 35 kilometres an hour -- when the 8,800-tonne ferry slammed into the shore of Gil Island last March.

The collision ripped a gash from stem to stern that sent her to the bottom of Wright Sound in just over an hour.

She was carrying 101 people at the time. Two people were not found and are believed to be dead.

Investigations into the nighttime sinking indicate the ferry failed to make a routine course change while exiting Grenville Channel. Instead, she sailed straight ahead for several kilometres and hit Gil Island.    

The Queen of the North had been built in Germany 38 years ago for Danish owners and christened the Stena Danica. B.C. Ferries purchased the vessel in 1974.

The ship was pulled out of service in 1976 and remained docked for four years before it underwent a $10-million overhaul and put back into service on its northern run.

It underwent a major refit including its passenger decks in 2001.