New Salish Raven ferry makes inaugural sailing ahead of schedule

The Salish Raven pulled into Ogden Point Wednesday after finishing a 41-day journey from Gdansk, Poland, where it was built. June 7, 2017. (CTV Vancouver Island)

A new ferry connecting Tsawwassen and the Southern Gulf Islands is being placed into service months ahead of schedule after a mechanical failure on an older vessel last week.

According to BC Ferries, the Salish Raven will make its inaugural sailing at 2:45 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.

“We’re pleased to now welcome our customers about Salish Raven and the ship will provide safe and reliable service for our passengers for decades to come,” BC Ferries vice-president of engineering Mark Wilson said in a statement issued Tuesday morning.

Wilson says crews are still struggling to determine what went wrong with the 53-year-old Queen of Nanaimo. The vessel remains out of service since its latest bout of mechanical problems last week.

The older ferry caused several delays this season. In addition to its mechanical issues last week, the Queen of Nanaimo also spent several days on the sidelines in June just before the Canada Day long weekend.

The Queen of Nanaimo is slated to be pulled permanently from service this fall with the installation of the Salish Raven, which is the second new ferry to be added to the fleet this summer.

The Polish-built Salish Raven is part of a trio of vessels being added this year. The Salish Orca began serving the Powell River-Comox route in May, and the Salish Eagle started sailing the Tsawwassen-Southern Gulf Islands route in June.

All three ships are adorned with artwork by indigenous artists from B.C. First Nations. Thomas Cannell of Musqueam Nation created the Salish Raven’s artwork.

The new ships are also hybrid vessels, meaning they can run on both liquefied natural gas and diesel. BC Ferries estimates that using LNG for the Salish-class vessels can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 9,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. That’s equivalent to the annual carbon dioxide emissions of about 2,000 passenger vehicles.

The new class of ferries cost $200 million to build. They’re all 107 metres long and can carry 145 vehicles and 600 passengers. That’s slightly smaller than the soon-to-be retired Queen of Nanaimo, which could carry 164 vehicles and just over 1,000 passengers and crew members, according to the BC Ferries website.

With files from The Canadian Press.