New B.C. Ferries rules: deck restriction, no smoking

Popping down to enclosed vehicle decks on a B.C. Ferries vessel to take a nap or tend to a pet will no longer be allowed as of Oct. 11.

B.C. Ferries announced the measure Tuesday, as well as the decision to make all vessels and terminals smoke-free for staff and passengers as of Jan. 22, 2018.

Restricting deck access is intended to improve safety for passengers and to harmonize B.C. Ferries’ policies with those of other ferry operators and Transport Canada regulations. The Coho ferry, for example, has not allowed passengers on vehicle decks for about 15 years.

The new rule applies to “closed-door, lower car decks,” said Darren Johnston, B.C. Ferries’ director of fleet operations.

The main safety concern is fire and the potential dangers it poses in an enclosed space.

“Every year we have a couple of car-deck fires — lots of hot engines running, you turn off the engine, there’s some leaking fluid,” he said. “In every case in recent history, we detect it very quickly and we extinguish it very quickly, and nobody’s put in harm’s way.”

Use of upper vehicle decks, which have openings to the outdoors, won’t change, Johnston said. “So anybody’s that’s parked in their vehicle on the upper car deck will be allowed to remain in their vehicle.”

As it stands, Johnston said there are almost always more people using the upper vehicle deck than the lower deck. “The [lower] car deck is largely full up with commercial vehicles, and they take up a lot more space.”

He said that if someone turns a request by a crew member into “a security incident,” there is a potential to get the police involved.

Vehicles such as ambulances and livestock carriers will be exempt, while requests to park on the upper deck will be accommodated, when possible.

The move to smoke-free is coming during National NonSmoking Week, and includes medical marijuana and vapour products.

Johnston said revised provincial rules require smokers to be at least six metres away from doors, windows and vents on ferries and at terminals. Because of space limitations, that means vessels must become smoke-free.

B.C. Ferries decided to extend the smoking ban to terminals “to support and health and wellness of our passengers and employees.”

B.C. Ferries will use a similar approach to enforcing its smoking policy as it does to enclosed vehicle deck rules, he said.

A reminder will, hopefully, be enough for someone to stop smoking, Johnson said.