New major vessels project

Building new ferries to better connect communities and customers on our busiest routes

We’re building up to seven new vessels to connect you to the people and places important in your lives. These state-of-the-art hybrid vessels will provide service on our busiest routes and will be amongst the biggest ferries in our fleet, replacing existing ships that are nearing their end of life.
 

More capacity and innovative design

The new vessels will service our busiest routes between Metro Vancouver, Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. To help us meet the growing demand for travel on the coast, each vessel will carry up to 2,100 passengers, compared to a capacity of 1,200 - 1,500 on the retiring vessels.

These vessels, designed in collaboration with LMG Marin AS, are also being designed considering the need to reduce emissions through simplified automation, more efficient operations and different fuel sources including bio/renewable fuels, being rechargeable and with the option to convert to fully electric ships in the future when the charging infrastructure is in place to allow this.

Two conceptual renders of our New Major Vessels are the first look at what up to seven new ferries could look like when they enter operation starting in 2029.
 

A consistent travel experience

The vessels will form a new class of ship within the BC Ferries fleet. Each vessel will be identical. This will allow us to provide a consistent travel experience without disruption, when we need to redeploy vessels to do maintenance or refits. Reducing the number of vessel classes reduces logistical, operational, training and maintenance costs over the lifespan of a vessel. In addition, this approach dramatically improves resiliency in the fleet so service is consistent and more reliable.
 

Supporting the Province's CleanBC goals

We are proud to support the Province’s CleanBC goals and help British Columbia meet its greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for the transportation sector. Our new vessels will drastically reduce our impact on the environment. Bio fuel, renewable energy and rechargeable batteries will deliver significantly lower emissions and more energy efficient operation. Each vessel will be built ready for conversion to fully electric plug-in operation once the necessary shore side infrastructure and technology is available. Work is underway to achieve this goal through a separate terminal electrification project.
 

In operation starting in 2029

Vessel replacement is a long-term process that requires extensive planning and follows a formal and transparent procurement process to obtain the best possible value for ferry users. We are working towards having the first of these new major vessels in operation in 2029 with the rest coming online in succession by 2033.

---

 

Testing a new vessel's design and build

Using scale models in state-of-the-art tow tanks and ocean basins helps us determine how a new vessel will perform once at sea.