As the long wait for the Salish Orca came to an end last week, speculation about the new ferry running between Westview and Comox did not. More than four hours of delay on Victoria Day due to operational issues fuelled the negative chatter. Regardless of its rocky start, the new boat is an improvement on the old one.
One major misconception about the Salish Orca is that its 145-vehicle capacity is much smaller than the now-retired Queen of Burnaby, which will cause more travellers to be left behind. The fact is the Burnaby only held 23 more vehicles, and its percentage of overloads during 2017 was a mere 0.7 percent, according to BC Ferries, usually on holiday and summer weekends.
Although 23 extra cars could be a lot during the thick of festival season, the Burnaby rarely fit that many on anyway, as commercial vehicles often rendered one or both of the upper platforms useless.
Despite the perception that BC Ferries will be turning away droves of passengers with its new, slightly smaller vessel, the corporation's overall utilization statistics on the Powell River to Comox run were less than 36 percent in 2016 and just shy of 31 percent the year prior.
Behind schedule for a number of its runs, and with that unfortunate and lengthy delay on the holiday Monday due to a circuit breaker and computer system not getting along, BC Ferries’ official line throughout the week was that crews were still working out the kinks in loading and operating the new vessel.
With time, BC Ferries should have Salish Orca running smoothly. As proven on Monday night, if delays do happen the new, faster boat is able to make up lost time.
Unfortunately, the Orca’s schedule and crossing time remain the same as the Burnaby, despite its capacity to go between two and three knots faster.
Perhaps whenever BC Ferries looks at scheduling for the run they will take that faster speed into account. At the very least, they could add the Wednesday and Saturday afternoon sailings they took away in spring of 2014 back to the schedule. Many are still shaking their heads over that.
Despite a rough start for Salish Orca, we should have a sense of relief that Queen of Burnaby’s service has finally ended.
Wherever the Burnaby ends up, may it rust in peace.
Jason Schreurs, publisher/editor
