Damen Shipyards Group has launched the ninth of 10 Island class ferries which it is building for Canada’s BC Ferries at the Damen Shipyards Galati shipyard in Romania.
The launch follows another key moment, when the yard undertook the grand block assembly of Island Class 10. Both vessels form part of an order for four ferries, following the earlier deliveries of Island class vessels 1-6 between 2019 and 2021.
The four ferries currently under construction are based on the Damen 8117 (E3) electric ferry design. Damen is constructing the vessels to be fully electric-ready. The shipbuilder is installing the vessels with diesel-electric hybrid propulsion. Once the required shoreside infrastructure is available, BC Ferries is planning to operate the vessels using 100% electrical energy.
Following delivery, Damen will continue to provide support to the vessels, as it does currently to BC Ferries’ other Island Class vessels, from its Service Hub in Victoria.
Once in operation, Island Class vessels 7-10 will provide services connecting Nanaimo with Gabriola Island, and Campbell River with Quadra Island. The ferries are capable of carrying up 47 vehicles and 390 passengers.
Meanwhile, BC Ferries has announced the names for the four latest Island class ferries, all chosen by the Canadian First Nation people. Two will carry names gifted by Snuneymuxw First Nation in the hul’q’umi’num’ language: Island xwsaĺux̌ul, meaning grassy place, the location where the Snuneymuxw Sarlequun Treaty of 1854 was signed, and Island sarlequun, honouring the first peoples of Snuneymuxw. The remaining two will be named in the Kwak’wala language of the We Wai Kai and We Wai Kum Nations: Island Gwa’yam, meaning whale in the Kwak’wala language, and Island K’asa, meaning otter in the Kwak’wala language. These two names carry profound meaning, representing significant figures in the natural world.
Image: Launch of the ninth BC Ferries Island class (source: Damen Shipyards Group)
