BC Ferries Island Class ships – ferries for the future, now

BC Ferries’ battery hybrid electric Island Discovery connecting Powell River and Texada Island on the Sunshine Coast.

PHOTO: RODGER HORT, COURTESY OF BC FERRIES.

By the end of the year, BC Ferries will have achieved a significant milestone: six new battery hybrid electric Island Class ferries will have been built and delivered to BC Ferries. Two ships are already in operation, and have been providing service on the Port McNeill – Sointula – Alert Bay and Powell River – Texada Island routes since mid-2020. The other four have been in various stages of construction and delivery throughout 2021 and will enter service in 2022.

The vessels are built by Damen Shipyards and once complete, they embark on a 10,700 nautical mile journey from the shipyard in Romania to Victoria, British Columbia. The first two vessels arrived on a semisubmersible, while the others have made the transoceanic journey under their own power. In fact, the sixth and final Island Class ferry in this series, temporarily named Island 6, is still mid-voyage.

The Island Class ships have a number of key features that support BC Ferries’ goal to be efficient and environmentally responsible. The vessels are easy to load, extremely quiet, and designed for full electric operation. With the capacity to carry at least 47 vehicles and up to 400 passengers and crew, they will allow for fleet redeployments and retirements of existing diesel-fuelled vessels.

As the ferries make their way across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal, and up the Pacific to B.C., the hybrid systems have been put to the test. Like the Island Class 3, 4 and 5, approximately one-third of Island 6’s journey is expected to be completed by using battery power with the main engines stopped; proof that the Island Class ferries will be able to operate as fully electric vessels once BC Ferries’ terminals have plug-in recharging capabilities. The vessels are initially delivered with hybrid technology. BC Ferries is seeking funding support from the federal governmental to construct the necessary shore charging infrastructure to allow these vessels to run on battery power alone, relying on B.C.’s abundant, low-cost, clean hydro-electric power for recharging.

BC Ferries is innovative, leading edge, and ready to adapt to changing economic, social, and environmental climates, without compromising safety, efficiency, and reliability. The Island Class ferries represent a major step forward as BC Ferries strives to be one of the most sustainable ferry companies in the world, while providing world-class service to connect communities up and down coastal British Columbia. Ü