BC Ferries Back-Up

kc dyer
55 minutes ago
2 min read

Service grinds to a halt due to police incident

BC Ferries remain docked under a 'hold in place' order at 6 p.m. on April 19 as WV Police deal with an incident aboard The Queen of Surrey. Photo by Christine Little.

BC Ferries service was halted for most of the afternoon on Sunday as West Vancouver Police (WVPD) dealt with an incident aboard a ferry docked at the Horseshoe Bay terminal.

In a statement on their website Sunday morning, BC Ferries said the Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay vessel was currently holding outside of dock due to a police incident on board the Queen of Surrey. "The 10:55 am sailing from Departure Bay will be delayed offloading as the West Vancouver Police Department has requested that no vessels enter or exit Horseshoe Bay."

The 'Hold In Place' order remained in effect all Sunday afternoon.

WVPD reported just after 1 p.m. that they were on scene at the ferry terminal in Horseshoe Bay to provide assistance to a member of the public.

They asked that people avoid the area and follow police direction.

Ferries finally began moving again late in the afternoon and BC Ferries scrambled to deal with the back-ups resulting from the terminal shut-down.

The Bowen Island ferry was also held at Snug Cove.

Just after 4:30 p.m., the company announced that a 38 passenger water taxi had been made available to provide "supplementary service" for foot passengers to and from Bowen Island.

WVPD announced on social media just after 6 p.m. that the incident on the ferry had been resolved and they were working to reopen the area to the public. The Snug Cove service later resumed with a 6:35 pm ferry departure from Horseshoe Bay.

Service on the Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo route was expected to resume as soon as possible with departures from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay.

BC Ferries thanked passengers for their patience during the delay.