MV ''Malaspina Sky'' is an
Intermediate-class ferry in the
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 ...
fleet built in 2008.
Originally named ''Island Sky'', the ship has operated on the Earl's Cove–Saltery Bay route since its first day of service for BC Ferries on February 19, 2009. However, it was used on the
Powell River (
Westview) -
Little River
Little River may refer to several places:
Australia Streams New South Wales
*Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River
*Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Hawk ...
(
Comox) run as the replacement vessel for ''
Queen of Burnaby'' while ''Queen of Burnaby'' was being refitted, and during the upgrades to both those terminals (October 2013 to March 2014). And the vessel was temporarily assigned to the Horseshoe Bay to Langdale route (March/April 2017), whilst the dock at Langdale was being upgraded.
The ship was renamed ''Malaspina Sky'' in a ceremony on October 24, 2019. The ship was renamed as part of a BC Ferries' initiative to standardize its naming conventions, to release the name, and to prevent confusion with the upcoming Island-class ferries being delivered in 2020.
Design and construction
The passenger section of this ship was built at the
Washington Marine Group
Seaspan ULC (formerly Seaspan Marine Corporation) provides marine-related services to the Pacific Northwest. Within the Group are three shipyards, an intermodal ferry and car float business, and also a tug and barge transportation company that ...
(WMG) shipyards in
Esquimalt
The Township of Esquimalt is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Juan de ...
, British Columbia, while the engines and hull were assembled at WMG's
North Vancouver facility. The ship was built between 2006 and 2009, and was delivered almost ten months later than contracted. Despite some problems delaying her transfer to BC Ferries, she has provided effective and reliable service to date. The contract was fixed price, with penalties for delays, but BC Ferries was not fiscally responsible for any overruns. On December 10, 2008, BC Ferries formally accepted the vessel.
Incidents
Once in 2012 the ship lost power before docking, but power was restored quickly and docking was completed successfully.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malaspina Sky, MV
I-class ferries
2008 ships
Ships built in British Columbia