B.C. Ferries' Easter Chaos: Vessels Down, Travelers Stranded

0:00It's April 5th. Welcome to Canada News Today, powered by AI. B.C. Ferries hit major snags this Easter long weekend with mechanical breakdowns and vessel shortages, messing up routes from the lower mainland to the Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island. Cancelations piled up, weight stretched long, and they had to roll out backup plans during peak travel time. Take the Horseshoe Bay to Langdale Run, where the Queen of Surrey Steering Panel failed right after its refit, scrapping morning and early afternoon. Sailings. They swapped in a replacement vessel starting at 2.25 pm from Horseshoe Bay and deployed water taxis, including 412 passenger, ones in a bigger 38-seater to keep things moving. Travelers faced chaos, like folks stranded overnight on Texada Island after a propulsion glitch Friday night, plus two afternoon cancellations Sunday. And for more Monday, on the Tawasan to Duke Point Route, the Queen of Coquitlam got pulled

1:01to cover elsewhere, leaving no stand-by spots and heavy line-ups everywhere. These headaches build on earlier woes, with the spirit of Vancouver Island sideline by a generated problem before bouncing back Friday. Officials blame an aging fleet under rising demand, and they're warning a more strain without upgrades. B.C. Ferries pushed for five new major vessels, but only got four greenlit by the Commissioner last year, with the first not hitting the water until 20. 29. They're using this mess to stress the knee for that fifth one to ease the pressure long term.