B.C. Ferries is apologizing after 21 people in 12 vehicles bound for Pender Island were stuck waiting for two and a half hours on Mayne Island on Sunday evening due to a crew shortage.
Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall said the crew of the Salish Raven was missing one member Sunday, meaning the Mayne Queen was left to operate on its own on a modified schedule between Swartz Bay and the Southern Gulf Islands.
“There were customers bound for Pender Island who were delayed by approximately two and a half hours. We certainly apologize for this delay. No one was left stranded,” said Marshall. “Whenever there is a disruption in our service, we try to give our customers as much notice as possible. We fan the information out to our staff and our customers as quickly as we can so the public can make travel decisions.”
Pender resident Isaac McPhee was still irate Monday, saying B.C. Ferries should have informed passengers waiting in Swartz Bay to board the ferry that the Salish Raven was out of commission and they would be stuck on Mayne, which would have given them the chance to take another route to Pender.
Instead, he said they were informed while they were sailing to Mayne.
“They did not give a tinker’s toss about any of us,” he said, noting there were people with health issues and young families left to sit in cold cars and wait. “All they were concerned about was it’s just 12 cars and 21 people, so who cares — they can be two and a half hours late.”
McPhee said the passengers eventually got back to Pender after 11 p.m.
Marshall confirmed that B.C. Ferries has experienced a number of sailing delays and cancellations lately due to crew shortages as a result of higher than expected retirements in key positions, the impact of vaccination policies, difficulties recruiting international candidates due to COVID-19, as well as the global shortage of professional mariners.
“Like so many industries and other ferry service providers around the world, we find ourselves in a challenging time coming out of the pandemic,” she said. “Our human resources team is working very hard at recruitment, but there may be isolated incidents, like yesterday, where we delay service due to crew illness.
Marshall said B.C. Ferries has several initiatives to address the crew shortages, including investing in internal training and advancement, implementing a significant push on recruitment and bringing back retired employees where possible.
In an email, Eric McNeely, president of the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers Union, said nearly 25 per cent of B.C. Ferries’ workforce is over 55, and its human resources department has “been less proactive than they should have been for years.”
McNeely said that if B.C. Ferries wants to attract and retain employees, training and compensation need to be addressed by its “very well compensated executives in a timely manner.”
