The Queen of Surrey is back in service on the Horseshoe Bay-Langdale route after repairs to one of the vessels’ clutches was fixed one day sooner than expected.
“After reinstating the clutch and undergoing rigorous safety inspections and sea trials Thursday morning, the Queen of Surrey has been cleared to return to service,” said a news release from BC Ferries released just after 10:45 a.m. Thursday morning. “The regular full summer schedule will resume on the route, which is great news for commuters and Labour Day long weekend travellers.”
For the full schedule details, visit www.bcferries.com.
“I want to thank our engineering and fleet maintenance teams for their herculean efforts in affecting repairs to the vessel as quickly and safely as possible,” said BC Ferries president and CEO Mike Corrigan. “Seven of our marine engine mechanics from our refit facility, which ramps up from September to June during our refit season, came back from vacation early to work around the clock to make this happen in time for the long weekend.”
The broken clutch was discovered during the 10:50 a.m. sailing out of Langdale on Sunday morning, Aug. 24. The vessel was pulled from the route, which forced the cancellation of five sailings between the two terminals.
A temporary fix was made and the Surrey returned to the route for a 6 p.m. sailing that evening. The corporation thought they could run the vessel on three clutches for the remainder of the week and through the long weekend, planning to pull the vessel from service after the long weekend, but decided to pull the Surrey from service Tuesday morning.
A modified schedule was in place late Tuesday morning until mid-morning on Thursday.
