BC Ferries cancellations to continue into Monday

The Queen of Surrey, one of the BC Ferries vessels that serves the Horseshoe Bay - Langdale route, is seen in this photo from the BC Ferries website. (bcferries.com)

A mechanical issue on a BC Ferries vessel that left hundreds of passengers stranded Saturday afternoon continues to impact travellers, with scheduled sailings cancelled or delayed for both Sunday and Monday.

Sailings between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale are cancelled, alongside some sailings between Horsehoe Bay and Departure Bay in Nanaimo. Sailings that haven’t been cancelled are expected to face delays.

The cancelled sailings between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale are as follows:

Sunday, Sept. 21:

• 6:20 a.m. departing Langdale
• 7:30 a.m. departing Horseshoe Bay
• 8:40 a.m. departing Langdale
• 9:50 a.m. departing Horseshoe Bay
• 11 a.m. departing Langdale
• 2:55 p.m. departing Horseshoe Bay
• 4:10 p.m. departing Langdale

Monday, Sept. 22:

• 5:30 p.m. departing Horseshoe Bay

The cancelled sailings between Departure Bay and Horseshoe Bay are as follows:

Sunday, Sept. 21:

• 11:05 a.m. leaving Horseshoe Bay
• 12:20 p.m. leaving Departure Bay
• 10:40 p.m. leaving Departure Bay
• 5:20 p.m. leaving Departure Bay
• 7:30 p.m. leaving Horseshoe Bay

Monday, Sept. 22:

• 6:15 a.m. leaving Horseshoe Bay
• 2:45 p.m. leaving Departure Bay
• 7:25 p.m. leaving Horseshoe Bay
• 10:40 p.m. leaving Departure Bay

“Last night, our crew onboard the 44-year-old Queen of Surrey experienced an unexpected issue with the main engine turbocharger,” a BC Ferries spokesperson said in a statement Sunday morning.

“Our engineering team is on-site working to repair the issue, but the vessel remains out of service for the time being.”

BC Ferries diverted another sailing to provide an alternative service, with new sailings at 11:05 a.m. departing Horseshoe Bay, and 12 p.m. departing Langdale on Sunday.

Several foot passenger water taxis have also been deployed, including two 12-passenger vessels, one 38-passenger, and one 40-passenger.

“As this is a rapidly evolving situation, we ask customers planning to travel today to refer to the service notices for the latest details on cancelled or delayed sailings,” the spokesperson said.

Anyone who has a booking on one of the cancelled sailings can expect to hear from BC Ferries’ Customer Service Centre on whether they can be fit onto an alternate sailing later today, or if the booking must be cancelled.