BC Ferries cancels all Brentwood Bay to Mill Bay sailings

The MV Klitsa, which serves the Mill Bay-Brentwood Bay BC Ferries route, is shown in the Saanich Inlet. June 6, 2018. (CTV News)

BC Ferries is warning travellers that all sailings between Brentwood Bay and Mill Bay on Vancouver Island have been cancelled Wednesday.

The company says the cancellations are due to staff shortages.

"We require a specific number of crew members on board the vessel to ensure the safety of our passengers in the unlikely event of an emergency and to comply with Transport Canada regulations," said BC Ferries in a release Wednesday morning.

"The decision to cancel a sailing in these circumstances is made when we have exhausted all options to find replacement crew."

The approximately 25-minute ferry connects Mill Bay in the Cowichan Valley with Brentwood Bay on the Saanich Peninsula.

It's used as an alternative to driving on the Malahat highway, which BC Ferries notes is still open to travellers who need to go to and from Greater Victoria.

If enough crew can be found, BC Ferries says it will notify travellers and restart sailings.

As of Wednesday morning, all of the sailings Wednesday between Brentwood Bay and Mill Bay have been cancelled, including:

• 7:30 a.m. departing Brentwood Bay
• 8:05 a.m. departing Mill Bay
• 8:40 a.m. departing Brentwood Bay
• 9:15 a.m. departing Mill Bay
• 9:50 a.m. departing Brentwood Bay
• 10:25 a.m. departing Mill Bay
• 11:00 a.m. departing Brentwood Bay
• 11:35 a.m. departing Mill Bay
• 1:15 p.m. departing Brentwood Bay
• 1:50 p.m. departing Mill Bay
• 2:25 p.m. departing Brentwood Bay
• 3:00 p.m. departing Mill Bay
• 3:35 p.m. departing Brentwood Bay
• 4:10 p.m. departing Mill Bay
• 4:45 p.m. departing Brentwood Bay
• 5:20 p.m. departing Mill Bay
• 5:55 p.m. departing Brentwood Bay
• 6:30 p.m. departing Mill Bay