Island Ferries has been selected as the preferred operator of a potential passenger service between Nanaimo and Vancouver.
The announcement was made by the City of Nanaimo, Snuneymuxw First Nation and the Nanaimo Port Authority.
“It’s a good first step, it’s taken a long time to get to this point,” operations director with Island Ferry Services, David Marshall, said.
The location of the terminals is still unknown at this point.
The Victoria-based company says it’s had a number of discussions with potential sites in Vancouver and continues to search for a terminal in Nanaimo.
“In Nanaimo it’s finding a terminal from which to operate and to negotiate a lease at rates that make it affordable for people to travel,” Marshall said.
Ernst and Young has been hired to conduct a financial and technical review of the company’s plan.
Island Ferries says it hopes to move into lease negotiations as quickly as possible.
“We understand that the parties, the city, the port, the Snuneymuxw First Nation […] they want to do some additional due diligence before they start lease negotiations,” Marshall said. “We don’t know what that looks like yet, we haven’t seen the terms of reference, we don’t know how long that’s going to take.”
If the due diligence proves successful, the company will enter into a lease negotiation with the Nanaimo Port Authority to lease marine infrastructure to operate the service.
Marshall says once negotiations are complete, it could take up to six months to start service on the route.
Fares will range, but could start at $24 one way, he says.
