MV ''Queen of Alberni'' is a that operates between Horseshoe Bay and

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 ...

in British Columbia. She is part of 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.

Construction and operation

''Queen of Alberni'' was built by Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd. in North Vancouver, British Columbia in 1976. She joined the other two ferries, ''

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 ...

'', that were also built in that year, with the other two C-class ferries, '' Queen of Surrey'' and ''

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 ...

'', joining later. ''Queen of Alberni'' was different from the others, as she only had one car deck designed to carry overheight vehicles. Her lack of an upper car deck put its capacity at 145 overheight vehicles. The ferry's high truck capacity made her a natural for the service's Tsawwassen-Duke Point route (established in 1990 as the Mid-Island Express, running between Tsawwassen and Departure Bay; and later between Tsawwassen and Duke Point), which is intended for a high volume of overheight vehicles. The Queen of Alberni services the Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay route, alongside the Duke Point to Tsawwassen route as of January 2023. This former route is also served by the ''

'' and the ''

''. In 1984, the ship was stretched and lifted, gaining an upper car deck for non-overheight vehicles, leading to a new vehicle capacity of 292. In 1999, the ship underwent another refit in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. The ship has a different system of ship evacuation since it carries fewer passengers. All of the lifejackets are stored in large containers scattered throughout the two passenger decks. The ship has two evacuation stations on each side of the passenger deck. The combined capacity of these four stations is 1,200. In 2007, ''Queen of Alberni'' completed a 40 million dollar mid-life upgrade which will prepare the 31-year-old vessel for another 20 years of service.

Accidents

In 1979, the vessel ran aground in

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 ...

. Many cars and trucks were damaged when the ship tilted over, and some flipped over completely. There were no major injuries, and the only casualty was a racehorse that was being transported. Misfortune struck again in 1989 when ship smashed into the dock at the Departure Bay terminal in

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...

. Six people were injured. Another accident would come on March 12, 1992. At around 8:00am ''Queen of Alberni'' left the Tsawwassen terminal with heavy fog and almost zero visibility. The Japanese

bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo — such as grains, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement — in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, econom ...

''Shinwa Maru'' left the Westshore Terminal No. 1 at nearby

Roberts Bank Roberts Bank is an undersea bank in the Strait of Georgia on the south side of the estuary of the Fraser River approximately south of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located between the South Arm of the Fraser River and Tsawwassen, it is s ...

, British Columbia at 7:40am. At 8:06am the two ships made radio contact after seeing each other on

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

to arrange a safe passage. At 8:08am the two vessels collided. ''Queen of Alberni'' hit ''Shinwa Maru'' about aft of the bow, above the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

, and at a 70-degree angle. Two people aboard ''Queen of Alberni'' were seriously injured, while none aboard ''Shinwa Maru'' were injured. ''Queen of Alberni'' had minor damage to the

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

and some of the cafeteria equipment was displaced. ''Shinwa Maru'', however, was damaged when the ferry penetrated the #1

cargo hold 120px, View of the hold of a container ship A ship's hold or cargo hold is a space for carrying cargo in the ship's compartment. Description Cargo in holds may be either packaged in crates, bales, etc., or unpackaged (bulk cargo). Access to ho ...

and

ballast tank A ballast tank is a compartment within a boat, ship or other floating structure that holds water, which is used as ballast to provide hydrostatic stability for a vessel, to reduce or control buoyancy, as in a submarine, to correct trim or list, ...

s. On December 15, 2001, ''Queen of Alberni'' got caught in a heavy wind storm which turned a regular 2-hour crossing into a -hour ordeal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Queen Of Alberni, Mv C-class ferries Ships built in British Columbia 1976 ships