MV Queen of Cowichan HD

A Tour of BC Ferries' Queen of Cowichan. Built in 1976 by Yarrows Ltd. in Victoria, she and her sister ship, the Queen of Coquitlam were the first two 'C' Class vessels which brought greater vehicle capacity to BC Ferries' major routes. They were also the first vessels built with an upper car deck and were equipped with articulating ramps to make loading the upper car deck from a single ramped berth possible. In the early years of her service life, the Cowichan served Route 1 between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay after the 'V' Class vessels were lifted, she moved up to Route 2 between Horseshoe Bay and Departure Bay. In the late-80s to the mid-90s, the Cowichan served Route 3 between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale. In 1995 she was pulled from the route after an incident on one of her escalators which caused serious injuries not long after this, she was given a major upgrade during which her interior was redone and her escalators were removed. She was placed on Route 2 once again and she has stayed there as a primary vessel to this day only serving Route 3 when extra sailings are scheduled on Route 2 and 3 or for emergency releif. In 2003/04, the Queen of Cowichan underwent a 34 Million Mid-Life Upgrade. Unlike the Coquitlam's the year before, the Cowichan's and the 4 'C' Class vessels after her received more extensive work. During the upgrade, her interior was gutted and redone once again, new marine evacuation chutes were installed, deck steel was replaced, and her engines were redone. In 2008, the Coastal Renaissance took over as the primary vessel out of Departure Bay, making the Cowichan the secondary vessel. However, this was only during Summer. In the off-season the Cowichan, retains her primary vessel status which is how it is still done today.
Filmed on June 22nd, 2014 © CS16.