It’s a sign of the times, as BC Ferries is feeling the effects of the outrageous gas prices too.
The transportation giant is implementing a fuel surcharge effective June 1, that will result in a minor increase in ferry fares.
The surcharge works out to 1.5 percent and Communications and Media Relations Manager Astrid Braunschmidt said the impact on travellers will be minimal.
“A 1.5 percent fuel surcharge amounts to about 25 cents for an adult and 85 cents for a vehicle on the Metro Vancouver-Vancouver Island routes and 15 cents for an adult and 45 cents for a vehicle on a variety of the inter-island routes,” said Braunschmidt.
Most of the fleet uses ultra-low sulfur diesel, but five BC Ferries vessels run on liquified natural gas, including the three Salish-class vessels and both the Spirit of British Columbia and the Spirit of Vancouver Island have been converted to the LNG system.
Braunschmidt said fueling the ferry fleet costs a fortune.
“Last year, BC Ferries spent approximately one hundred million dollars on fuel and we’re always looking for ways to reduce what we pay for fuel and reduce our fuel consumption as well, said Braunschmidt. “We’ve been doing that by adopting LNG, we now have five vessels that operate on [liquified] natural gas and the cost of LNG is about 50 percent that of the diesel fuel that we use.”
What does this fuel surcharge mean for the total cost of travelling with BC Ferries? See the chart below.
