Due to continued shortages for crew on BC Ferries ships, the Horseshoe to Departure Bay ferry, amongst others, will be changing its schedule.
“There is no single factor driving service interruptions,” stated BC Ferries in a release. “It is a combination including the Omicron variant’s potential to impact employee wellness, regular cold and flu season, severe winter storms, vaccination policies that have reduced crew availability and the global shortage of professional mariners making it difficult to hire replacement staff.”
The scheduled changes for Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay, as well as Horseshoe Bay to Langdale and Earls Cove to Saltery Bay will start on January 28th and last until February 28th.
The month-long schedule change notably includes the 10:40pm turning into a 10:10 pm sailing for Departure Bay, and the 6:35 changed to 5:40 pm, as well as the 10:10pm changed to 8:05pm for Horseshoe Bay.
Half of Earls Cove to Saltery Bay’s schedule has been changed, and a quarter of the Horseshoe Bay to Langdale schedule has been changed as well. More information is available here.
Crewing shortages continue to affect all sailings for BC Ferries, and the service states even if a small number of crew are unavailable, it can have a significant impact on service if replacements aren’t found.
