B.C. Ferries warns extra rules mean you’d pay more, get less

VANCOUVER — Acting on the Transportation Safety Board’s recently released Watchlist of recommendations would increase costs and reduce service on B.C. Ferries, according to a company spokeswoman.

Deborah Marshall of B.C. Ferries didn’t have the exact costs of implementing the TSB Watchlist but said it would increase costs “a lot more.” “We certainly wouldn’t be sailing every hour,” said Marshall.

The Watchlist was released by the TSB to address critical, recurring safety issues in Canada’s transportation system.  Among the concerns singled out by the TSB was the lack of emergency preparation on Canada’s large passenger vessels. One of the TSB’s recommendations was to develop “a framework that ferry operators can use to develop effective passenger accounting for each vessel and route.”

Marshall pointed out that B.C. Ferries does have such a system on its two northern routes but requires passengers to arrive 2 1/2 to three hours before sailing.  In the south, Spirit-class vessels can carry 2,100 passengers and sail every hour in the summer.  “You would have to have identification and a manifest list of each and every person,” said Marshall of what appears to be unworkable system.

B.C. Ferries and Marine Workers Union president Richard Goode agreed with Marshall about the unwieldiness of accounting for every passenger.  “You’d almost have to have 100 per cent reservations,” said Goode.  He pointed to routes like the one to Gabriola Island, where identifying all the passengers could take longer than the 20-minute trip.

While some of the recommendations aren’t feasible, Marshall said some are already part of B.C. Ferries. For instance, B.C. Ferries vessels already have voyage data recorders and the company has put 1,300 of its employees through a special course to manage passengers in an emergency.

The TSB release received less attention because it was released on the same day as criminal charges were laid against the navigation officer of the Queen of the North as a result of the sinking of the vessel March 22, 2006.


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