Cowichan class
 Queen of Oak Bay
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The Cowichan-Class or C-Class of the shipping company BC Ferries is a series of RoPax ships that were created between 1976 and 1981. The ships of the series are used by the shipping company on various routes. After an interim revision and decommissioning, they are still in line operation.
Construction of the ships
The ships were built between 1976 and 1981. When the first ships were put into service, they were the largest ferries in the world. Three of the ships were built in 1976, two more in 1981. They were all built in Vancouver. Each of the ships cost approximately 20 million Canadian dollars ( CAD ) to build .
The ships are largely identical. Only the Queen of Alberni is somewhat smaller due to a slightly different construction program in 1984 and the resulting consequences for the midlife construction program (1200 passengers and 295 vehicles)
Midlife building program
In 1999 and between 2003 and 2006 the ships were taken out of service one after the other. As part of a mid-life program, the ships were revised for a further 20 years of operation. The conversion or renovation cost between 20 and 30 million CAD per ship.
Ships of the series
BC Ferries operates a total of five ferries of this class. The ships sail under the Canadian flag and are registered in Victoria . As a rule, the ships travel between Vancouver Island and Vancouver or between Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast .
| Surname | IMO no. Callsign |
Commissioning | Port of departure | Main line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queen of Alberni | 7414080 CZ8100 |
1976 | Tsawwassen | Tsawwassen - Departure Bay |
| Queen of Coquitlam | 7411155 CZ8058 |
1976 | Horseshoe Bay | Horseshoe Bay - Departure Bay |
| Queen of Cowichan | 7411143 CZ4990 |
1976 | Departure Bay | Departure Bay - Horseshoe Bay |
| Queen of Oak Bay | 7902283 VG8234 |
1981 | Horseshoe Bay | Horseshoe Bay - Departure Bay |
| Queen of Surrey | 7902221 VG8177 |
1981 | Langdale | Langdale - Horseshoe Bay |
Technical information
The vessels are powered by two MaK - diesel engines powered 12 M551 AK type. The motors act via reduction gears on a controllable pitch propeller at one of the two ends of the ferry. Three diesel generators are available for generating electricity on board.
The ships have three ro-ro decks. The lower and upper ro-ro decks can be reached via landside ramps, the middle ro-ro deck via ramps from the other two ro-ro decks. The other decks with the passenger facilities and the wheelhouses are located above the ro-ro decks.
literature
- Bannerman, Gary and Patricia: The Ships of British Columbia , Hancock House Publishers, 1985, ISBN 0-88839-188-9 , English