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Broken clutch causes cancellations, delays

BC Ferries
Queen of Surrey
A broken clutch on the Queen of Surrey forced the cancellation of five sailings on the Horseshoe Bay/Langdale route on Sunday afternoon.

Five sailings were cancelled Sunday afternoon (Aug. 24) on the Langdale/Horseshoe Bay run due to a broken clutch on the Queen of Surrey.

According to BC Ferries executive director of public affairs Deborah Marshall, the captain and engineers noticed some vibration during the 10:50 a.m. sailing out of Langdale.

“It was discovered that a bolt had sheared off and several other bolts were coming loose,” said Marshall. “Once we docked in Horseshoe Bay, the vessel was taken out of service and the crew deadheaded back to Langdale.”
Marshall said crews made temporary repairs and the Surrey went back into service on a 6 p.m. sailing out of Langdale.

In total, two sailings were cancelled out of Langdale and three out of Horseshoe Bay.

Marshall said the Surrey can sail on three clutches, but the vessel will be taken out of service after the long weekend so full repairs can be made.

She added that as of Tuesday afternoon, the Queen of Coquitlam will be the primary vessel on the route, while the Surrey will become the secondary vessel. That rotation of vessels will remain in place until after the long weekend.

“We know that it would be impossible to take the Surrey out of service before the long weekend,” she said. “The Surrey can still sail and we don’t anticipate any more problems.”