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BC Ferries has announced details of its winter upgrade to Langdale terminal.
Berth One, which is the primary operational berth at Langdale, will be temporarily closed from mid-January to mid-April, 2017 while marine structures are upgraded or replaced. Alternate service on the Langdale-Horseshoe Bay route and the water taxi service to Gambier and Keats islands will be provided during the dock closure.
During this closure, the Langdale-Horseshoe Bay service will operate out of Berth Two at Langdale terminal, which allows single-deck vehicle loading and unloading as opposed to double-deck. Therefore, two vessels will operate on approximately hourly sailings between both terminals. Each sailing will offer approximately half the vehicle capacity of current service as they will be main-deck loads only. However, with twice as many sailings each day, the overall capacity will remain essentially the same.
Every sailing will be partially reservable as they are now, so customers are encouraged to make reservations for desired sailing times. Passenger capacity will actually increase during the period with two vessels providing service on the route.
In order to accommodate the berth construction, the water taxi service to Gambier and Keats Islands, provided by Kona Winds using their “Stormaway” vessels, will be temporarily relocated from Langdale terminal to the Gibsons Harbour Marina. The change in travel distances to both islands necessitates a scheduling adjustment on this route as well. These customers will be provided parking at the marina, as well as shuttle service between Langdale terminal and the marina to connect with certain sailings on the Langdale-Horseshoe Bay route.
“BC Ferries needs to continue to invest and renew its terminal infrastructure in order to provide safe and reliable service,” said Mark Wilson, BC Ferries’ Vice President of Engineering. “Once completed, we expect at least 20 years of dependable service from Berth One, enabling us to continue to meet the expectations of our customers.”
A webpage has been set up to outline this closure and further details of the alternate service on both routes, and the modified schedules have now been published. Customers are advised to visit bcferries.com/about/projects to learn more on the alternate service, and see the ‘schedules’ tab to view the schedules of both routes.
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