The Salish Eagle, the second of three new vessels joining the B.C. Ferries fleet this year, begins service Wednesday with a 9:10 a.m. sailing on the Tsawwassen-Southern Gulf Islands route. <\/p>\n
The Salish Orca was the first of the trio in service, starting in May on the Powell River-Comox route. The Salish Raven arrived in Victoria on June 7 and is due to start service in the fall, also in the Southern Gulf Islands. <\/p>\n
All three ferries are 107 metres long and can carry 145 vehicles and 600 passengers. They were built in Poland at an overall cost of $200 million and are all duel-fuel able to run on natural gas or ultra-low sulphur marine diesel. <\/p>\n
B.C. Ferries plans to run all three on natural gas, which it says means a reduction of 9,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, compared with running the vessels on marine diesel the same as taking 1,900 passenger vehicles off the road per year. <\/p>\n
The new ferries were named to honour the Coast Salish people and each has been adorned with First Nations art. <\/p>\n
The arrival of the Salish-class vessels means the Queen of Burnaby and Queen of Nanaimo are being retired, while the Bowen Queen will be taken out of regular service and used as a utility vessel. <\/p>\n
Times Colonist <\/p>\n
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New ferry Salish Eagle starts service Wednesday in Gulf Islands - Times Colonist<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Salish Eagle, the second of three new vessels joining the B.C. Continue reading