The MV ''Queen of New Westminster'' is a Canadian roll-on, roll-off

passenger ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

operated by

BC Ferries British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., operating as BC Ferries (BCF), is a former provincial Crown corporation, now operating as an independently managed, publicly owned Canadian company. BC Ferries provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry ...

. In 1964, the vessel was built as one of seven Victoria class ferries. Like her sister ships, she was lengthened in 1973 at Burrard Dry Dock. After the ship damaged a crankshaft beyond repair, she was re-engined with four Wärtsilä engines, had the car deck platform ramps removed and was raised to add a second car deck at Vancouver Shipyards in 1991. After being raised for a second car deck, she would normally be considered a Victoria class ferry as she shares most of the characteristics of that class, but because of her improved powerplants and higher clearance car decks, she is unique. Her two former sister ships are the Burnaby class vessels ''Queen of Nanaimo'' and ''Queen of Burnaby'', which are also not considered Victoria class vessels because they did not receive the additional car deck which created the final Victoria class ferries. Though her four Victoria class sister ships were all scrapped by 2012, she had a major refit of her passenger areas between late 2007 and early 2009 to prepare her for another ten to fifteen years of service.

Structural refits

In 1973 the ship was cut in half to enable an additional 25-meter section to be inserted at a cost of $2.5 million and in 1991 she underwent a major rebuild including new engines and an additional car deck at a cost of $35.6 million.

Accidents

In October, 1971, ''Queen of New Westminster'' pulled out of her berth at the

Departure Bay Departure Bay is a bay in central Nanaimo, British Columbia, on the east coast of Vancouver Island. The surrounding neighbourhood is also referred to as "Departure Bay" —once a settlement of its own, it was amalgamated into the City of Nan ...

terminal while vehicle loading was in progress. A car and its two occupants fell into the water. Both of the vehicle's occupants were rescued. In a similar incident, on August 13, 1992, the ship pulled out of her berth at the Departure Bay terminal while vehicle loading ramps were still lowered and resting on the ship. Three people were killed, one was seriously injured, and two others received minor injuries when a van from Alberta containing 6 people fell from the upper deck onto the lower car deck and finally into the sea below. The van was stopped and instructed to wait on the loading ramp by terminal crew members. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada determined that this accident was caused primarily by the vessel not properly following departing procedures and secondarily due to poor communication between terminal and ship crew members.

Sister ships

''Queen of New Westminster'' initially had six sister ships, none of which are still in service with BC Ferries. These ships were originally built as a single class but were modified through different combinations of deck-stretching, addition of more vehicle decks, and installation of more powerful engines. Though ''New West'' is a sister of these ships, the ship does not fit into either the V class or the Burnaby class. * Victoria Class ferries (all scrapped) ** ''

Queen of Victoria The V-class ferries, also known as the ''Victoria'' class, originally included seven ferries operated by BC Ferries built between 1962 and 1965. The V class were a continuation of the previous design with some cosmetic changes and different engi ...

'' ** '' Queen of Vancouver'' ** '' Queen of Esquimalt'' ** ''

Queen of Saanich The V-class ferries, also known as the ''Victoria'' class, originally included seven ferries operated by BC Ferries built between 1962 and 1965. The V class were a continuation of the previous design with some cosmetic changes and different engi ...

'' * Burnaby Class ferries ** ''

Queen of Nanaimo MV ''Queen of Nanaimo'' is a passenger vessel that was operated by BC Ferries from the time it entered service in 1964 until 2017. ''Queen of Nanaimo'' was used to ferry passengers and vehicles from mainland British Columbia, Canada to the island ...

'' (retired) ** '' Queen of Burnaby'' (retired)

References

External links

BC Ferries Corporation: ''Queen of New Westminster'' Ship Page
archive from February 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Queen Of New Westminster, MV Ships of BC Ferries Ships built in Victoria, British Columbia 1964 ships V-class ferries