BURST
The B.C. Ferries vessel Salish Heron dropped anchor Tuesday morning.
It wasn’t supposed to.
En route from Tsawwassen to Salt Spring, the five-year-old Salish-class boat suffered an “unexpected release” of one of its two anchors into the waters near the Triconmali Channel.
Passengers reported “a massive shuddering of the vessel and a huge metallic screeching sound,” with one witness saying passengers on the outer deck quickly reported to staff they could see fire and smoke.
Claire Thomas, who was on the ferry, said there was a strong smell of smoke throughout the vessel, and moved to the rear to try to avoid it, adding “passengers were very scared.”
“I was completely terrified and called my husband to tell him what was going on and he tried to calm me,” said Claire Thomas. “After talking to my husband for about 10 minutes, there was finally a brief announcement … (they) stated that there had been a spontaneous release of the anchor and an anchor drop, and that the anchor was lost. He informed us that there was still one anchor, so it was safe to go forward and he was going to continue onto Salt Spring Island.
“There was no information about the smoke or the fire. No reassuring statements made. No apologetic statement made. No further clarification of the situation. I was so shook up that I had to pull my car over when I got off the ferry just to calm down before I drove to my dad‘s … I’m feeling so anxious that I don’t know if I want to travel on the ferries anymore. I’ve been travelling on the ferries since I was an infant and I am 57. I’ve never experienced anything like this.
“I’m pretty shattered by the experience and kind of in shock. It was terrifying.”
A B.C. Ferries spokesperson confirmed the Heron had lost its anchor Wednesday.
“The crew stopped propulsion right away and carried out checks to confirm there was no damage, and there was no risk to passengers or crew. The vessel’s second anchor was tested and is fully operational, meeting all safety and regulatory requirements for service. Technicians will carry out further testing this week to confirm the cause, but the vessel is back in service.”
The Heron, which was built in 2020 and went into service on May 6, 202 2 to serve the Tsawwassen and the Southern Gulf Islands route, is the fourth Salish-class boat B.C. Ferries operates, including the Salish Orca, Salish Eagle, and Salish Raven. It was back running routes on Wednesday.
It is 107 metres long and 23.5 metres wide, has a displacement of 4,227 tons, and has a car capacity of 138, and a pa ssenger and crew capacity of 600.