New Vancouver-Nanaimo ferry service announces pricing, launch timing
The new passenger-only ferry service between Vancouver and Nanaimo, Hullo, has announced that it will begin operations this summer.
While an exact date wasn't announced Thursday, the company said it plans to begin operating in early August.
Sailings will be 70 minutes each way, and Hullo plans to launch with up to seven roundtrip sailings per day, the company said.
The first sailing will depart from Nanaimo at 6 a.m., and the last sailing will depart from Vancouver at 9:30 p.m., though Hullo says later sailings may be available for special events.
Hullo will launch with two ferries in its fleet that can carry 354 passengers each.
Passengers can purchase tickets for the ferries' three different tiers of seating: comfort, premium and business.
For adults, comfort-tier tickets will cost $39.99, premium tickets cost $49.99, and business tickets cost $59.99.
Separate prices are available for children and seniors. A full price breakdown can be viewed below:
June 8, 2023. (Hullo)Onboard Wi-Fi will be available for all passengers, and snacks can be purchased on each sailing.
Pets are allowed on the ferries, but they must remain in carriers on the laps of passengers. Bikes can also be brought onboard, but Hullo warns that only a limited number of bike parking spaces will be available, and they must be reserved for a fee.
Ferries will depart from downtown Nanaimo at the Nanaimo Port Authority, located at 100 Port Dr., while sailings from Vancouver will depart from the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre at Burrard Landing, located at 1055 Canada Pl.
Hullo's two ferries were given the hul’q’umi’num’ names, spuhéls and sthuqi’.
Spuhéls (spah–els) means wind, and sthuqi’ (sta–key) means sockeye salmon, according to the Snuneymuxw First Nation.
"We honour these vessels by bringing forward our connection with the sockeye salmon and the wind," said Snuneymuxw First Nation Chief Mike Wyse in a release Thursday.
"We remember our kinship with them and how we respect our sacred relationship," he said. "The vessels’ names are an example of how we can also honour our way of being together as partners."
The announcement comes about a week after BC Ferries said it would be altering service between Metro Vancouver and Nanaimo.
BC Ferries is relocating one of its ferries from the Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay route to the Tsawwassen-Duke Point route to relieve some of the traffic congestion at the Horseshoe Bay terminal.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Guilty: Trump becomes first former U.S. president convicted of felony crimes
Donald Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
Can Trump come to Canada now that he's a convicted felon?
A Canadian immigration lawyer says now that Donald Trump is a convicted felon, he is technically barred from crossing the border into Canada.
Montreal tech billionaire charged with several sex offences
Robert Miller was charged Thursday with several sexual assault charges after Montreal police reopened an investigation into the tech billionaire.
Police: 3 killed, including suspected gunman, in Minneapolis shooting
Three people, including the suspected gunman, are dead after a shooting Thursday at a Minneapolis apartment complex, police said.
'Why didn't they stop?' Mom asks of driver in hit-and-run crash that killed son
The mother of a 13-year-old boy who was killed in a hit-and-run in Edmonton is begging the driver to come forward.
The northern lights are returning to night skies across Canada this Friday
If you missed the brilliant displays of the aurora borealis over North America on May 10, you may have another chance to see them on Friday night.
A pair enjoyed pricey meals and bolted when it was time to pay. Their dine and dash ended in jail
A Welsh couple who dined out on pricey meals and bolted when the bill came is now paying the price, behind bars.
$400K in damages for B.C. woman who had unnecessary mastectomy was 'inordinately high,' court finds
A jury's award of $400,000 to a woman who had a mastectomy after being misdiagnosed with breast cancer has been substantially reduced by B.C.'s highest court, which found the damages were "wholly disproportionate."