New Major Vessels Project Reaches Milestone With BC Ferries Commissioner Application

BC Ferries has now formally submitted its plan to build five New Major Vessels to the BC Ferries Commissioner.

If approved, the project would be the largest capital investment in the organization’s history, increasing ferry capacity and reliability for BC’s coastal communities.

In 2024, BC Ferries handled its highest peak season traffic ever, and with BC’s population continuing to rise, travel demands are mounting year-round.

The NMV project proposes to replace four aging vessels and add one new vessel to the fleet, adding critical space on the busiest routes between Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver.

That is intended to reduce wait times and boost overall capacity by up to 28% for passengers and 19% for vehicles.

“BC Ferries is a marine highway, and we have a responsibility to provide reliable service to keep people and goods moving in British Columbia,” says Nicolas Jimenez, BC Ferries CEO.

“We’ve heard from our customers that our busiest routes are too often fully booked during peak travel times, leaving many without access to the sailings they need. Without the addition of these vessels on our major routes, we’ll be unable to keep pace with the rising population and it’ll create a real impact on the economies of coastal communities.”

The first of these vessels is expected to enter service in 2029, with five operational by 2031.

BC Ferries says with global shipbuilding costs already rising over 40% in just the past four years, delaying the procurement of the vessels would lead to significantly higher costs in the future, including for customers.

These project costs were already partially included in BC Ferries’ last fare application.

The project aims to address population growth and growing visitor demands to ensure BC Ferries can deliver the service that customers expect while keeping fares as affordable as possible.

The additional capacity of the NMVs is projected to enable nearly 130,000 incremental tourists to travel through the region.

With the formal request comes an opportunity for BC residents, communities, and other groups to share feedback, which can be submitted on the BC Ferries Commissioner’s website.