B.C. Ferries: Easter Breakdowns Cause Chaos

0:00It's April 6th, Canada news today starts now, AI powered and ready. 3 VC Ferry ships broke down over the Easter long weekend, messing up travel on three major routes. The island discovery had propulsion trouble on Saturday, shutting down all sailings from Blumber Bay on Texata Island to Westview on Powell River. Until at least April 9th, then Sunday hit hard with the Queen of Surrey steering failure and another unnamed Bessels mechanical glitch. That meant six sailings canceled between Horseshoe Bay near Vancouver and Langdale on the sunshine coast from 7.30 a.m. to 1.15 p.m. Until a backup ship jumped in. Meanwhile two afternoon trips from Salwassen to Duke Point on the NIMO got axed with four more set from Monday. Traveler space chaos during peak holiday time, stranding folks and sparking frustration. BC. After a transportation critic, Harmon Bangu hit the Salwassen Terminal Sunday and called it total mayhem, blaming years of neglect by the ferry.

1:02Bored and the NDP government after nine years in power, to patch things up, BC. Ferry shifted the Salish Orca to a tweaked schedule for Texata and launched a water taxi for foot passengers between Westview and Texata's boating. Doc. President Nicolas Jimenez owned up to the aging fleet's woes, noting ships run solid most days, but breakdowns hit hard when they do. Looking ahead, eight new vessels are on order. Four smaller island class ships do this year and next, from Romania, plus four big ones from China. Starting in 2029, they even pitched a fifth release ship, but got shot down as not physically smart, so expect more tweaks while the fleet modernizes.