The C-class ferries (also known as Cowichan class) are a class of five double-ended

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

operated by

BC Ferries British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., operating as BC Ferries (BCF), is a former provincial Crown corporation, now operating as an independently managed, publicly owned Canadian company. BC Ferries provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry ...

in the

Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia (french: Détroit de Géorgie) or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada and the extreme northwestern mainland coast ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, all constructed between 1976 and 1981. When the vessels were first built, they were the largest ships of their kind in the world. The C-class ferries are long, with a car capacity of 362, and a crew and passenger capacity of 1500 persons. Each vessel's two MaK 12M551AK engines produce 11,860 HP, which provides a service speed of 22

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C-class vessels

The first two C-class ferries were ''

Queen of Coquitlam MV ''Queen of Coquitlam'' is a in the BC Ferries fleet, launched in 1976. She first operated on BC Ferries' Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay route. For most of her life, she has been a replacement/relief vessel on all the major routes serving Metr ...

'' and ''

Queen of Cowichan MV ''Queen of Cowichan'' is a BC Ferries vessel, built in Victoria, British Columbia in 1976. It joined the other two C-class ferries built that year, and , and was followed by and . The ship, like all C-class ferries, is double-ended. This mea ...

'', constructed in 1976. ''

Queen of Oak Bay MV ''Queen of Oak Bay'' is a double-ended roll-on/roll-off ferry in the BC Ferries fleet, launched in 1981 at Victoria, British Columbia. The long, 6,969-ton vessel has a capacity for 362 cars and over 1,500 passengers and crew. She normally o ...

'' and '' Queen of Surrey'' were built in 1981. There were some minor modifications to the design of the two later ships compared to the earlier C-class ships; most noticeably, ''Queen of Oak Bay'' and ''Queen of Surrey'' both have longer passenger decks than their older sisters. The C-class vessels were designed by Philip F. Spaulding and are similar to the Jumbo-class ferries he designed for

Washington State Ferries Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a government agency that operates automobile and passenger ferry service in the U.S. state of Washington as part of the Washington State Department of Transportation. It runs ten routes serving 20 terminals loca ...

several years earlier. '' Queen of Alberni'' was also constructed in 1976 along with the first two C-class vessels. Although this ferry is considered to be a C-class vessel, it is significantly different in layout. It was originally designed to carry only overheight (truck) traffic but in 1984, an upper car deck was installed for 150 non-overheight vehicles. This ferry has a capacity of 292 cars and 800 passengers and crew, and has a maximum service speed of . ''Queen of Coquitlam'', ''Queen of Cowichan'', ''Queen of Oak Bay'', and ''Queen of Surrey'' each received extensive mid-life upgrades in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 respectively. ''Queen of Alberni'' also received a similar upgrade in 2007. From engine work to major modifications and improvements, the vessels were refitted to provide an additional 20 years of service. In July 2018, BC Ferries announced that it had issued a request for proposals to build replacement vessels for all C-class ships, with deliveries beginning in 2024.

Routes

C-class ferries are double-ended; they have a separate bridge at each end and therefore are not required to turn around during the sailing. These ferries generally run on the

Duke Point Duke Point is a geographical location in the extreme southeastern part of the city of Nanaimo in British Columbia. It is located on a thin peninsula to the east of the Nanaimo River estuary, just across the Northumberland Channel from Gabriola ...

–

Tsawwassen Tsawwassen ( ) is a suburban, mostly residential community on a peninsula in the southwestern corner of the City of Delta in British Columbia, Canada. It provides the only road access to the American territory on the southern tip of the peninsul ...

, Horseshoe Bay–

Departure Bay Departure Bay is a bay in central Nanaimo, British Columbia, on the east coast of Vancouver Island. The surrounding neighbourhood is also referred to as "Departure Bay" —once a settlement of its own, it was amalgamated into the City of Nan ...

and Horseshoe Bay–

Langdale Great Langdale is a valley in the Lake District National Park in North West England, the epithet Great distinguishing it from the neighbouring valley of Little Langdale. Langdale is also the name of a valley in the Howgill Fells, elsewhere in ...

routes. At one time, these ferries operated on the

Swartz Bay Swartz Bay, located on the north end of the Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island, is primarily known for being the location of one of BC Ferries' main terminals, the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal. Swartz Bay was named after John Aaron Swart, purchas ...

–Tsawwassen route, but due to limitations placed on their speed when transiting

Active Pass Active Pass ( Saanich: sqθeq) is a strait separating Galiano Island in the north and Mayne Island in the south in the southern Gulf Islands, British Columbia, Canada. It connects the Trincomali Channel in the west and the Strait of Georgia in ...

—after an accident they were required to operate in the more maneuverable docking mode rather than cruising mode—it is no longer feasible to run them on that route.

Incidents and accidents

On August 9, 1979, ''Queen of Alberni'' was transiting through Active Pass when it

ran aground Ship grounding or ship stranding is the impact of a ship on seabed or waterway side. It may be intentional, as in beaching to land crew or cargo, and careening, for maintenance or repair, or unintentional, as in a marine accident. In accidenta ...

on Galiano Island, tipping fifteen degrees to starboard. Several large commercial vehicles on board the vessel at the time were damaged. No persons were injured, but a racehorse onboard was killed. On October 19, 1980, ''Queen of Coquitlam'' tipped over and landed on her side in the Burrard Shipyards

drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

during a maintenance layover, causing approximately in damage. She also gained the distinction of being the only BC Ferries vessel to have issued a mayday from drydock. On August 12, 1985, three people were killed when ''Queen of Cowichan'' ran over a pleasure boat near the Horseshoe Bay terminal. In June 1989, ''Queen of Alberni'' collided with the loading dock at Departure Bay causing significant damage to the ship and dock. Six people were injured including a cook who suffered a fractured cheekbone as he was walking down a set of stairs. On March 12, 1992, at 8:08 am (16:08 UTC), ''Queen of Alberni'' collided with the Japanese freighter ''Shinwa Maru'' southwest of Tsawwassen. The collision occurred in heavy fog, with both vessels suffering minor damage. Injuries included 2 serious and 25 minor injuries for the 260 people on the ferry, while none of the 11 people aboard the freighter received injuries. In October 1994, ''Queen of Surrey'' crashed into the dock at Horseshoe Bay, causing $200,000 in damage. On October 20, 1995, ''Queen of Coquitlam'' experienced an engine shut-down while approaching Horseshoe Bay. She crashed into a dock at the terminal resulting in light damage. On December 15, 2001, ''Queen of Alberni'' got caught in a heavy wind storm which turned a regular 2-hour crossing into a 7-hour ordeal. On May 12, 2003, ''Queen of Surrey'' was disabled as a result of an engine room fire. '' Queen of Capilano'' was dispatched and tethered to ''Queen of Surrey'' while

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

s were dispatched. The vessel was then towed back to shore. None of the 318 passengers were injured, but several crew members were treated for minor injuries. Some buckling of the main car deck resulted from the heat of the fire. However, no vehicles were damaged in the incident. On July 31, 2003, ''Queen of Surrey'' experienced a mechanical problem with one of its propellers. As a result, she was removed from service for emergency dry-docking to facilitate repairs, which took about five days. On June 30, 2005, ''Queen of Oak Bay'' lost power while approaching the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal. After the captain gave ample warning, the ship coasted into the nearby Sewell's Marina, where it overran more than a dozen boats before running aground. No one was injured, and the ferry sustained only minor scraping to a rudder and propeller blade. See for extensive details on this accident.

References

External links

BC Ferries: The Queens of Coquitlam, Cowichan and Oak Bay: More than a new lookThe Ferry Terminal - Ferries of British Columbia
an

BC Ferries and Ships on the BC Coast
(very extensive photo galleries) {{DEFAULTSORT:C Class Ferry Ferry classes