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Coastal-class ferries, also known as the "Super-C class" are three
ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...
owned and operated by
BC Ferries British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., Trade name, operating as BC Ferries (BCF), is a former provincial Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation, now operating as an independently managed, State-owned enterprise, publicly owned Canadian c ...
of
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
, Canada and were built at the
Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft is a German shipbuilding company located in Flensburg. The company trades as ''Flensburger'' and is commonly abbreviated ''FSG''. History ''Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft'' was founded in 1872 by a group of ...
shipyard in
Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...
, Germany. They are the second-largest ships in the BC Ferries fleet, surpassed only by the two larger, single-ended Spirit-class ferries. At the time of their building, the three ships were the largest double-ended ferries in the world, however the record has since been surpassed. The three ferries (, , and ) were ordered by BC Ferries to replace the aging
V-class ferries V class or Class V may refer to: Automobiles *Mercedes-Benz V-Class Ships *V-class ferry, owned and operated by BC Ferries *V and W-class destroyer, destroyers of the Royal Navy launched in late World War I * Greek V-class destroyer * U and V-cla ...
. They operate on two of the busiest routes connecting the
Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 ...
to
Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...
—Tsawwassen↔Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen↔Duke Point. In the past, they have also served the Horseshoe Bay↔Departure Bay route, but have since been reassigned.


Description

The Coastal class of ferries is composed of three ships, ''Coastal Renaissance'', ''Coastal Inspiration'' and ''Coastal Celebration''. At launch they were the largest double-ended ferries in the world. The three ships are long overall and
between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...
with a beam of . They have a maximum draught of . All three vessels have the same maximum displacement of , but have varying tonnages; ''Coastal Renaissance'' and ''Coastal Celebration'' have a
gross tonnage Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weig ...
(GT) of 21,777 and ''Coastal Inspiration'', a GT of 21,980. ''Coastal Renaissance'' has a
deadweight tonnage Deadweight tonnage (also known as deadweight; abbreviated to DWT, D.W.T., d.w.t., or dwt) or tons deadweight (DWT) is a measure of how much weight a ship can carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water Fresh water or ...
(DWT) of 2,366, ''Coastal Inspiration'', a DWT of 1,770 and ''Coastal Celebration'', a DWT of 2,350. The ships are powered by four 8-cylinder MaK 8M32C
diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...
s driving two electric motors turning two
controllable pitch propeller Controllability is an important property of a control system and plays a crucial role in many regulation problems, such as the stabilization of unstable systems using feedback, tracking problems, obtaining optimal control strategies, or, simply p ...
s. The engines are split into two main compartments and each compartment can run independently. The engines are rated at . The ferries have a maximum speed of and a cruising speed of . The vessel has seven decks, with the passenger deck on Deck 6, above the two
bridges A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somet ...
on Deck 5, with additional passenger spaces between the two bridges on Deck 5. The class has a capacity of 1,604 passengers and crew and lane space for 310 full-sized family vehicles. Initial reports stated the vessels could carry 1,650 passengers and crew and 370 cars. Amenities aboard each ferry include a Coastal Cafe, a Coast Cafe Express, Sitka Coffee Place, lounge, gift shop, and children's and pet areas.


Ships in class


Acquisition and service

The vessels were ordered from Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft shipyard in Flensburg, Germany in September 2004 for €206.4 million. According to BC Ferries at this time, this was 40 percent lower than the lowest Canadian shipyard's bid. This was a controversial decision, which led to Canadian shipbuilders protesting the decision. The first new Coastal-class vessel, ''Coastal Renaissance'', departed for British Columbia on October 27, 2007, and arrived on December 13, 2007. She entered service on the Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay run on March 8, 2008. She was followed by ''Coastal Inspiration'', which left Germany on February 9 and arrived March 25, and ''Coastal Celebration'', which departed on May 9 and arrived on June 18. The vessels' names were based on submissions received during a "naming contest" in late 2005. ''Coastal'' ''Renaissance'' and ''Coastal Inspiration'' operate on the Duke Point to Tsawwassen route. ''Coastal Celebration'' serves the Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen route. ''Coastal Renaissance'' at one time operated from Horseshoe Bay to
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 Na ...
, but has been reassigned. On December 20, 2011, ''Coastal Inspiration'' collided with the terminal at Duke Point while travelling at , damaging the lower vehicle ramp at the terminal and causing damage to the vessel. 16 were injured in the collision and the bow door, the starboard side shell, and the rubbing plate on the ship were damaged. ''Coastal Inspiration'' was then redirected to the Departure Bay terminal with the assistance of a
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, suc ...
to disembark passengers and vehicles. The ship was out of service for 122 days. The cause of the crash was later found to be crew error. In August 2023, ''Coastal Renaissance'' suffered an issue with her drive motor, and the vessel was removed from service for extensive repairs. The vessel's return to service was delayed at least twice. Repairs are estimated to have cost approximately $3 million. She returned to service on March 4, 2024, after being out of service for just under seven months.


References


External links


BC Ferries Newbuild Program
{{BC Ferry Classes Ships built in Flensburg Ferry classes