Queen of Oak Bay
The Queen of Oak Bay departs the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal in August 2006.
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| History | |
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| Name: | Queen of Oak Bay |
| Operator: | BC Ferries |
| Port of registry: |
Victoria  Canada
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| Route: | Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay |
| Completed: | 1981, upgraded 2005 |
| Identification: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | C Class, double-ended, roll-on/roll-off ferry |
| Tonnage: | 6,968.91 ton |
| Length: | 139.29 m (457 ft) |
| Beam: | 27 m (89 ft) |
| Draft: | 6 m (20 ft) |
| Installed power: | 11,840 hp (8.83 MW) |
| Propulsion: | Two MaK 12M551AK |
| Speed: | 19 to 22 knots (35 to 41 km/h) |
| Capacity: |
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| Crew: | 34 |
M/V Queen of Oak Bay is a double-ended C class roll-on/roll-off ferry in the BC Ferries fleet, launched in 1981 at Victoria, British Columbia. The 139.29-metre (457 ft) long, 6,969-ton vessel has a capacity for 362 cars and over 1,500 passengers and crew. She normally operates on BC Ferries' Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay (Nanaimo) route, part of the Trans-Canada Highway. She is named for the district of Oak Bay.
The vessel underwent a $35 million mid-life upgrade in early 2005 at Vancouver Drydock Company in North Vancouver. The project prepared the vessel for another 20 years of service with upgrades to engineering components, lifesaving equipment and improvements to onboard services. Major maintenance work included steel replacement, piping and cable renewal, hull sandblasting and extensive painting. The vessel was outfitted with four state-of-the art marine evacuation systems, supplemented by two rescue boats and eight life rafts. She returned to service on June 13, 2005.
On June 30, 2005, at about 10:10 in the morning (17:10 UTC), the Queen of Oak Bay lost power four minutes before she was to dock at the Horseshoe Bay terminal. The vessel became adrift, unable to change speed, but able to steer with the rudders. The horn was blown steadily and an announcement telling passengers to brace for impact was made minutes before the ship slowly ran into the nearby Sewell's Marina, where she destroyed or damaged 28 pleasure craft and subsequently went aground a short distance from the shore. No casualties or injuries were reported.
On July 1, 2005, BC Ferries issued a statement that Transport Canada, the Transportation Safety Board, and Lloyd's Register of Shipping were reviewing the control and mechanical systems on board to find a fault. An inspection revealed minimal damage to the ship, with only some minor damage to a metal fender, paint scrapes to the rudder, and some minor scrapes to one blade of a propeller.
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