The following is the text of a news release from BC Ferries:
(VICTORIA, British Columbia) — BC Ferries’ Salish Raven, the third and final Salish-class vessel, is on its way. The vessel departed Gdansk, Poland on Friday morning for a 10,440-nautical-mile journey to its new home in British Columbia.
The trans-Atlantic voyage will take approximately 45 to 55 days, depending on weather. The journey will include stops for refueling in Santa Cruz, Canary Islands and Panama City, Panama. The vessel will also transit the Panama Canal and sail up the West Coast of North America to British Columbia.
For those who want to join the voyage “virtually," customers can track the ship’s progress including course, position and speed at vesselfinder.com.
Salish Orca, BC Ferries’ first dual-fuel vessel, will be introduced into service next month on the Powell River-Comox route. Salish Eagle, the second Salish-class vessel, will start service on the Tsawwassen-Southern Gulf Islands route in late June. Salish Raven will be introduced in the Southern Gulf Islands in the fall.
“This is a major milestone in our newbuild program as Salish Raven, the final vessel in this series, is now making its way to British Columbia,” said Mark Collins, BC Ferries’ president and CEO. “With these new vessels, we continue to move towards standardization of our fleet, which offers interoperability and lower crew training and maintenance costs, and also enhances safety.”
The artwork created to adorn Salish Raven, designed by Musqueam Nation’s Thomas Cannell, will be applied on the ship when it arrives in B.C. The winter weather in Poland has temperatures below ideal for the application.
BC Ferries will take final acceptance and ownership of Salish Raven upon final inspection once the vessel arrives in B.C. Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. is responsible to deliver the ship to B.C. and has contracted with a professional international ship delivery specialist. Some of BC Ferries’ crewmembers are on various legs of the voyage for training and familiarization.
