Dozens of BC Ferries sailings cancelled due to high winds

Ferry cancellations are seen in this file photo from January 2020.

Citing wind speeds above its safety parameters, BC Ferries cancelled dozens of sailings between the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast on Sunday.

The ferry operator said in a statement that the Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay, Tsawwassen to Duke Point, Horseshoe Bay to Langdale and Comox to Powell River routes had all been affected by the cancellations, with other routes also facing potential impacts.

Environment Canada has issued wind warnings for Greater Victoria, Eastern Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver, with gusts as high as 90 kilometres per hour expected.

As of early Sunday afternoon, more than 6,000 BC Hydro customers were without power on Vancouver Island. The causes of most of the outages were still under investigation, but several were prompted by downed wires or trees.

The following ferry sailings have been cancelled on Sunday.

Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay route:

• 11 a.m. departing Tsawwassen
• 1 p.m. departing Swartz Bay
• 3 p.m. departing Tsawwassen
• 3 p.m. departing Swartz Bay
• 4 p.m. departing Swartz Bay
• 5 p.m. departing Tsawwassen
• 5 p.m. departing Swartz Bay
• 6 p.m. departing Tsawwassen
• 7 p.m. departing Tsawwassen
• 7 p.m. departing Swartz Bay
• 9 p.m. departing Tsawwassen
• 9 p.m. departing Swartz Bay

Tsawwassen-Duke Point route:

• 10:15 a.m. departing Tsawwassen
• 12:45 p.m. departing Duke Point
• 3:15 p.m. departing Tsawwassen
• 3:15 p.m. departing Duke Point
• 5:45 p.m. departing Tsawwassen
• 5:45 p.m. departing Duke Point
• 8:15 p.m. departing Tsawwassen
• 8:15 p.m. departing Duke Point
• 10:45 p.m. departing Tsawwassen
• 10:45 p.m. departing Duke Point

Horseshoe Bay-Langdale route:

• 5:30 p.m. departing Horseshoe Bay
• 6:40 p.m. departing Langdale
• 7:50 p.m. departing Horseshoe Bay
• 8:55 p.m. departing Langdale

Tsawwassen-Gulf Islands routes:

• 2:55 p.m. departing Long Harbour
• 3:45 p.m. departing Otter Bay
• 5:30 p.m. departing Lyall Harbour to Tsawwassen
• 5:40 p.m. departing Tsawwassen
• 7:05 p.m. departing Village Bay
• 7:45 p.m. departing Sturdies Bay
• 9:05 p.m. departing Tsawwassen

Comox-Powell River route:

• 9:55 a.m. departing Little River
• 11:50 a.m. departing Powell River
• 3:25 p.m. departing Little River
• 5:15 p.m. departing Powell River

Passengers with reservations on cancelled ferry sailings will be refunded, BC Ferries said.

"The safety of our passengers and crew is of primary importance to us," the ferry service said in its statement.

"We don’t take the decision to cancel sailings lightly, as we know customers rely on us to get to their destinations. We will resume service as soon as it is safe to do so."