The latest misadventure of the Northern Adventure continues to gain attention

While the vessel is back in service and tending to its double duty on the North coast and Queen Charlottes, last weeks shutdown of the BC ferry is continuing to be a major talking point for folks on the North Coast.

The Daily News examined some of the fallout from the engine troubles of last week with a front page story in Tuesday’s paper.

STRANDED FERRY WAS AN 'EMBARRASSMENT': COONS

By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Page one

While there won't be any disciplinary action stemming the stalling of the Northern Adventure, B.C. Ferries is investigating the incident to ensure it doesn't happen again.

The new vessel got stuck in Bella Bella on the Central Coast for four days last week after a crew member accidentally loaded oil contaminated with water into the engine causing it to shutdown.
"It was an honest mistake," said Deborah Marshall, B.C. Ferries spokesperson. "But we are conducting a thorough investigation to find out how this happened and if there are any precautionary measures or changes we need to do we will certainly do that."

She explained the oil wasn't contaminated in the engine, but when it was removed and put in the container, it mixed with water.

B. C Ferries had hoped to get the vessel running much sooner. They had been using the onboard purifying system to clean the contaminated oil, but were unsatisfied with the results and decided to truck in new oil instead.

“We weren’t sure it was in fact 100 per cent clean,” she said. “We didn’t want to put semi-clean oil back in the engine.”

Most of the 57 passengers on board were flown from Bella Bella to Port Hardy after spending two days onboard, however anyone scheduled to travel the Inside Passage to the Queen Charlotte Islands was left waiting for their ship to come in from Tuesday until Sunday, when the vessel finally reached Prince Rupert.

Regular service to Skidegate resumed Sunday at 11 p.m. and additional sailings on the Inside Passage have been added in the coming week.

When it comes to compensating travelers for the delay, B. C. Ferries is dealing with individuals who were stuck in various communities on a case-by-case basis.

“Travellers who were inconvenienced, if they want to check with out customer care center in Victoria, they will work with each individual customer,” said Marshall.

However, North Coast MLA Gary Coons said he received many phone calls from people who were left stranded following the incident and he is appalled at how it was handled.

He has written the Minister of Transportation Kevin Falcon asking the provincial government to step in and address the situation.

“Passengers feel they’ve been abandoned with no support or updates. It’s an embarrassment for our entire province that the problem is still dragging on and people have no predictable help in sight,” said Coons, the NDP critic for Ferries and Ports.

Coons said the Liberal government just doesn’t get how important the marine highway is to northern and coastal communities.

“Residents and businesses in coastal communities rely on B. C. Ferries Services as an extension of the highway system. Neglect of the ferries system and the marine highway impacts their lives deeply,” said Coons.