Lady Rose Marine Services, a mainstay on the Alberni Inlet and west coast of the Island for 75 years — delivering freight, supplies and passengers to tourism hotspots and isolated lodges and communities — is folding at the end of the month.
The last sailing is scheduled for Aug. 31.
“Due the difficulties of COVID-19 and crewing, Lady Rose Marine will not longer be able to continue services,” company owner Mike Surrell said Monday in a statement.
“Thank you to all our customers and passengers over the years.”
Surrell did not immediately return calls for a comment, but a staff member confirmed the marine company’s long run — first with the historic MV Lady Rose and since 2007 with the MV Frances Barkley — is coming to an end at month’s end.
The company usually employs seven full-time staff and typically adds another crew in the summer season.
But with little income because of the COVID-19 pandemic and strict regulations about training and operating, the company was unable to attract new qualified mariners.
B.C. Ferries is in a similar situation with crew shortages and had to cancel two sailings last week because it couldn’t fill key crew slots required for sailings.
Lady Rose Marine Services had daily service to Bamfield, Ucluelet and the Broken Group Islands, delivering goods to businesses and passengers to key backpacking and kayaking spots.
The MV Lady Rose was built in Scotland in 1937 for the Union Steamships Company of British Columbia and was the first single-prop diesel to sail across the Atlantic under its own power. It was sold to a group on the Sunshine Coast and the MV Frances Barkley took over the daily runs.
