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Ferry Service before 1960
Before BC Ferries began service along BC's coast, several companies operated on different routes to Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and the Sunshine Coast. Canada Pacific (CP) had ferries connecting Vancouver Island with the Mainland and the Gulf Islands since early in the early 1900's. The Gulf Island Ferry Company entered the scene in 1930 and Black Ball Ferries in 1951. Black Ball Ferries operated the present day Horseshoe Bay - Departure Bay route as well as the Sunshine Coast routes.
BC Government Becomes Involved
Early Years of Service
Building Boom
Northward Expansion
Making More Room
Building Again
Construction and Expansion
Bigger Ferries
Looking to the Future
Fast Ferry Fiasco
Restructuring
In the late 1950's, labor unrest and strikes hit both CP and Black Ball and the government decided that a reliable and regular ferry service needed to be created. On July 18, 1958, Premier Bennett announced the provincial government's intentions of creating a ferry service. The first two ferries, M.V. Sidney and M.V. Tsawwassen were built and launched by the end of 1959. Construction also began on the terminals at Tsawwassen ( including a 3km causeway into deep water) and Swartz Bay.
BC Ferries began transporting vehicles and passengers between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen on June 15, 1960. The fleet and service grew with the purchase of the 4 ferries and assets of Gulf Island Ferries for approximately 250,000 dollars in September of 1961. Later that year, Black Ball Ferries was bought by the government in November of 1961 for just under 7 million dollars and the ships and terminals were turned over to BC Ferries.
In 1962, the City of Vancouver and City of Victoria were built, slightly larger and with some improvements over the first two built. In 1963, the Queen of Saanich and Queen of Esquimalt, same size and class as the previous two built, were launched and the ferries previously built were renamed "Queen's" as well. Three similar ships (Queen of Nanaimo, Queen of New Westminster, and Queen of Burnaby) were launched in the next three years. The Queen of the Islands was launched in July of 1963, built especially for the Gulf Island service. This was quickly followed by the building of terminals on Saltspring, Galiano, Mayne, and North Pender Islands. By the end of 1965, three smaller ferries, Powell River Queen, Mayne Queen, and Bowen Queen, had been built for Gulf Island routes as well.
BC Ferries ventured north in 1966 with service between Kesley Bay on Vancouver Island and Prince Rupert, approximately 600 km further up the coast. The Queen of Prince Rupert was specially built for this route and began service in May of 1966. This ended the ship building boom of BC Ferries for approximately 10 years. In 1969, BC Ferries bought Coast Ferries which included two routes (Brentwood Bay - Mill Bay and a northern route) and two ferries (Island Princess and Mill Bay).
The BC Ferry service began to experience capacity shortages during the 70's and took several measures to deal with it. Platforms were added to most of the original nine ferries to increase vehicle capacity in the late 60's and early 70's. In 1970, BC Ferries began the process of inserting 84-foot extensions into the middle of seven of the original nine ferries to increase both vehicle and passenger capacity. Still experiencing a shortage in capacity in 1974, BC Ferries purchased the cruise ship/ferry Stena Danica (renamed Queen of Surrey) from Europe and placed it on the Horseshoe Bay - Departure Bay run. She was ill suited for the route, however, and was soon relegated to the Deas Island maintenance dock for the rest of the decade. A ferry was purchased from Quebec for the Bowen Island route 1971 and renamed the Howe Sound Queen.
On January 1, 1977, BC Ferries became a Crown Corporation, operating independently under the provincial government. In order to keep up with the growing demand, BC Ferries began the construction of 5 C-class vessels. Four of these $20-24 million double-ender jumbo ferries were built with a 362 vehicle and 1,466-passenger capacity. The first, Queen of Cowichan, was launched in 1976 followed by the Queen of Coquitlam. At the same time, the Queen of Alberni, with an identical hull but with only one car deck and a smaller passenger area, was built especially for overheight traffic. In the late 70's, the Island Highway reached Port Hardy and in 1979, the northern route from Prince Rupert terminated at Port Hardy instead of Kesley Bay. The same year, passenger ferry Dogwood Queen on the Gambier - Keats - Langdale route was replaced by the newer and larger Dogwood Queen II.
The Queen of Surrey underwent a major refit and was renamed Queen of the North in 1980 and was placed on the Inside Passage route. Now with two cruise ship/ferries, BC Ferries began operating between Skidegate (Queen Charlotte Islands) and Prince Rupert. In 1981, the last of the two C-class ferries, Queen of Oak Bay and Queen of Surrey, were launched with slight modifications to the original design. Also in 1981, BC Ferries began a project to further increase capacity on 4 of the original 9 ferries by cutting them lengthwise and lifting them to add another car deck. Queen of Alberni's capacity was increased by 150 in 1984 by the installation of an upper car deck while the bottom car deck remained the same, still having a large capacity for overheight vehicles. In 1985, BC Ferries took over the salt-water portion of the British Columbia Ministry of Transport and Highways which included several short routes and 14 ferries. In 1986, the colors on BC Ferries were changed from blue and white to the now familiar red, blue, and white.
In 1990, BC Ferries began the new route between Tsawwassen and Departure Bay (Nanaimo). The primary purpose of the creation of this route was to divert truck traffic from Horseshoe Bay and offer a southern route to Nanaimo. Two new minor vessels are launched in 1990 as well. The Queen of Capilano and Queen of Cumberland were built for the Bowen Island and Southern Gulf Islands routes respectively. Two new superferries were built for BC Ferries in the 90's for the Tsawwassen - Swartz Bay (Victoria) route. The Spirit of British Columbia (1993) and Spirit of Vancouver Island (1994) were built to carry 470 vehicles and 2,100 passengers, making them the largest ferries in the fleet.
In June of 1994, BC Ferries came out with a 10-year plan announcing a new Duke Point terminal, upgrading of existing terminals, new Century Class ferries for minor routes, a new northern ferry, and 3 new fast ferries. During the latter half of the 90's and into the 00's, many terminals were improved and the major terminals underwent major renovations. In July of 1995, BC Ferries launched their website, www.bcferries.bc.ca. A new northern route was created in 1996 with the Queen of Chilliwack operating between Port Hardy and Bella Coola with stops at coastal towns in-between. Duke Point ferry terminal, just south of Nanaimo was completed in 1997 and became the northern terminus for the Tsawwassen-Nanaimo route. The first Century Class ferry, Skeena Queen, was launched and put into service between Swartz Bay and Fulford Harbour (Saltspring Island). In June of 1998, BC Ferries launched the first fast-ferry, PacifiCat Explorer, and placed it on the Horseshoe Bay - Departure Bay route a year later. In November of 1999, PacifiCat Discovery, the second fast-ferry, was launched and entered service a few weeks later.
The PacifiCat's were removed from regular service in early 2000 after not meeting up to expectations. The third fast-ferry, PacifiCat Voyager, was launched in April of 2000 but was never used by BC Ferries. Around this time, the PacifiCat's were put up for sale on the international market. The controversial expansion of the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal began in earnest in 2001 and continued into 2002. Early in 2002, a 3-year Service Plan was announced by BC Ferries with plans to replace some of the V-Class vessels, build some smaller vessels, and replace Dogwood Princess II.
On April 2, 2003, the Coastal Ferry Services Contract was signed between the BC government and the new British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. to continue operations along the coast at an arms-length from government. The dogwood logo was replaced as well as the blue,red, and white color scheme.