BC Ferries to begin upgrades to Crofton ferry terminal in May. Published 5:45 am Wednesday, April 22, 2026 BC Ferries plans to begin work in May that will see the Crofton ferry terminal provide a two-ship service for the first time for its route between Crofton and Vesuvius Bay on Salt Spring Island. Construction is scheduled to be completed in June, 2027, and then the route will receive two Island Class vessels and shift to a two-ship service. BC Ferries' Island Class ferries are battery-electric hybrid vessels designed for short, minor routes. They are 80.8-metre long, double-ended ships that carry approximately 47 vehicles and up to 400 passengers and crew. BC Ferries has been working with North Cowichan's staff and residents to develop a terminal redevelopment plan for the Crofton terminal facility for several years. A delegation from BC Ferries provided an update on its plans for the terminal to North Cowichan's council at its meeting on April 15. After hearing from the delegation, council unanimously approved two licences that will allow for a crane and a trailer to be placed on site during construction, and to allow for 21 parking spaces for ferry crews. As well, council granted BC Ferries a temporary exemption to North Cowichan's noise bylaw so that some required work can be done at night during the construction phase of the project. Bill Corsan, North Cowichan's general manager of corporate services and community relations, said in a staff report that introducing two Island Class vessels to the route will increase capacity by 20 per cent and improve sailing frequency, helping to meet growing travel demand. "Once complete, the two-ship service is expected to improve traffic flow in the surrounding neighbourhoods, reduce congestion at terminals, and enhance the overall travel experience," he said. As part of the plan, the Crofton terminal will receive a new lay-by berth, and repairs and upgrades will be made to the existing berth and trestle. Corsan said that during the construction phase, some of the work will occur at night, between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m., Monday through Sunday. "Construction activities will be scheduled to take place during the day, but as some of the work will have a significant impact on ferry operations, night-shift work will be required," he said. "Activities that are expected to occur at night will have relatively short durations starting in May, but night-shift work will increase in frequency between September and December, 2026." Mayor Rob Douglas said the municipality, and especially Crofton residents, are pleased to see upgrades are finally being being made to the ferry terminal. But he acknowledged that the current plan is a scaled-back version of what was discussed in 2019-20. At the time, North Cowichan and Crofton residents indicated they had a strong preference for moving the terminal, which would have removed ferry traffic from Chaplin Street and created more public space on the waterfront. "Our community was quite excited about that (plan), but because of the COVID-19 pandemic and fiscal constraints that we were all dealing with, BC Ferries wasn't in a position to move ahead with it," Douglas said. "I'm hopeful that the two-ferry service will address some of that traffic congestion which has been a point-in-contention among Crofton residents for many years now." Douglas said he also hopes that, sometime in the future, BC Ferries will move forward with a plan to build a roundabout at the intersection of Chaplin Street and Crofton Road and, from there, build a new access road that connects to the ferry terminal so ferry traffic can be removed from Chaplin Street.

BC Ferries unveils new tools for passengers including top-requested feature. Mar 31 2026, 3:25 pm The Easter Long Weekend can be a busy one for travellers around the province, and BC Ferries is encouraging its passengers to utilize its digital tools to help make their next sailings smoother during peak times. BC Ferries revealed its new tools to assist customers in getting on busy or sold-out sailings. This includes expanded email alerts for the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen-Duke Point routes, as well as a waitlist pilot launching on the Powell River-Comox route on Thursday, April 2. "We know how important it is for people to connect over long weekends like Easter, and most customers are already planning ahead to make that happen," said Melanie Lucia, vice-president of Customer Experience at BC Ferries, in a release. "Booking early and choosing less busy sailings where possible gives customers more certainty and helps keep everyone moving through the system - especially during busy periods, when demand is high, and we're operating within a constrained system." Sailing alerts, notifying customers when bookable spaces become available on a sailing that was previously sold out, expand to Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen-Duke Point on Thursday, April 2. The bookings will happen on a first-come, first-served basis, and can also be done with sailing alerts already in use on the Horseshoe Bay-Nanaimo, Horseshoe Bay-Langdale, and Powell River-Comox routes. The waitlist pilot starts on April 2 on the Powell River-Comox route, and allows customers to join a waitlist for a sailing where bookable space is sold out. Travellers will automatically be booked and charged if space on a sailing becomes available, based on their position in the virtual queue. That consultation resulted in several primary changes, including the introduction of the Sailing Space Alert as well as the creation of waitlist capability. "As demand continues to grow on our busiest routes, tools like sailing alerts and waitlists give customers more ways to secure the sailing they want - even when bookable space is initially full," added Lucia in a statement. "They notify customers when space becomes available, helping them plan ahead, improve their chances of getting on their preferred sailing, and make better use of available capacity during busy periods." GET MORE URBANIZED NEWS You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking "unsubscribe" at the bottom of the email. Daily Hive is a division of ZoomerMedia Limited, 70 Jefferson Avenue, Toronto ON M6K 3H4.

BC Ferries selects Zelim for New ai-enabled man-overboard detection technology for BC Ferries. * 25 March 2026 ZOE MOB harnesses advanced computer vision and video analytics to deliver 360-degree surveillance for vessel crew. (Credit: Zelim) Zelim has announced a contract to supply its ZOE man-overboard (MOB) detection system to four hybrid-electric ferries which will be built for, and operated by, British Columbia Ferry Services (BC Ferries). The partnership, which is the first between the two companies, was agreed in February 2026, with the installation of the technology expected to begin in 2027. The hybrid-electric New Major Vessels will replace four end-of-life vessels and are scheduled to start service in 2029. BC Ferries currently operates 37 vessels across 25 routes serving 47 terminals across nearly 1000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of coastal British Columbia. Developed by Zelim, ZOE MOB harnesses advanced computer vision and video analytics to deliver 360-degree surveillance for vessel crew. The AI-enabled system is trained on a proprietary maritime dataset of over 9.5 million annotated objects and designed to detect man-overboard incidents instantaneously, in compliance with the international standard for shipborne man-overboard detection systems, ISO 21195:2020. ZOE has been independently tested by Lloyd's Register to detect both adults and children - day and night - helping to ensure the safety of passengers and crew alike. MOB incidents in the maritime industry are often unwitnessed. Without a reliable, swift way of detecting a MOB incident, there could be significant delays before a crew or rescue authorities realize that someone is missing - which critically reduces the chances of a successful rescue. With its capabilities, ZOE substantially improves detection rates at sea, increasing the likelihood of lives being saved. The partnership follows a strong period of growth for Zelim, who recently announced the launch of its defense business unit and the expansion of its senior leadership team. Sam Mayall, Zelim's Founder and CEO said: "We look forward to building a strong partnership with BC Ferries as we deliver our technology to its New Major Vessels. Securing this multi-vessel rollout is a significant milestone for Zelim, demonstrating the growing value of our ZOE technology for passenger ships. It also reflects the positive momentum we're continuing to build with vessel operators in the ferry sector - and more broadly across the North American market." "Safety is our first priority throughout the entire organization," said Ed Hooper, BC Ferries' Head of Fleet Renewal. "We look forward to working with Zelim to incorporate this innovative technology into our New Major Vessels as we modernize our fleet and further strengthen the safety of our passengers and crews."