Queen of Nanaimo to be retired
The ferry that bears the Harbour City’s name is nearing retirement.
BC Ferries’ Queen of Nanaimo made its inaugural run on June 5, 1964. It was the seventh vessel built for the province.
The vessel’s age means it will not qualify for a liquefied natural gas retrofit to extend its operating lifetime. The Queen of Nanaimo had received a $ 14- million retrofit, including safety upgrades and the addition of more passenger services, in 2006 after four months of work.
“Once ships are retired from our fleet, they are put up for sale on the open market,” said BC Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall. “Logging companies have been known to purchase our old vessels in the past.”
The Queen of Nanaimo began life operating between the Horseshoe Bay and Departure Bay terminals after they were acquired from Black Ball Ferries in late 1961.
The vessel was constructed for an initial cost of $ 3.5 million, and designed by Phillip Spaulding. “The design was similar to the original two vessels, Queen of Sidney and Queen of Tsawwassen,” said Marshall.
More would be invested in the Queen of Nanaimo in 1973 when a joint contract worth $ 2.9 million was awarded to “stretch” the boat, increasing the number of spaces on the vehicle decks from 54 to 192. By the mid- 1980s the 5,000- ton boat shifted from the busier Nanaimo route to service TsawwassenGulf Islands, where it operates today.
During the summer of 2010, an investigation was launched after the Queen of Nanaimo crashed into a dock on Mayne Island. Four passengers and one crew member were injured.
“We would expect when we retire the Nanaimo that we’ll ( also) retire her sister ship, the Queen of Burnaby,” said Marshall. That vessel operates between Comox and Powell River.
Also on the list of possible retirees is the North Island Princess, a 49- car ferry that operates between Powell River and Texada.