The three Salish-class vessels, Salish Eagle, Salish Orca and Salish Raven have a displacement of and all measure and max. Salish-class vessels are long overall and between perpendiculars. The ferries have a beam of. They are powered by dual-fuel engines capable of using liquified natural gas or diesel fuel to operate. The engines are rated at. They were the first vessels in British Columbia to be powered by LNG. They have a maximum speed of. Each ship has two car decks. They have capacity for 600 passengers and crew and 138 vehicles measuring. The ferries have several amenities aboard including a cafeteria, a gift shop and areas for children and pets.
Vessels
Service history
Constructed by Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. in Gdańsk, Poland, the three vessels of the Salish class were ordered as replacements for the older and. Salish Orca was the first to complete in November 2016 and entered service on May 15, 2017. Salish Eagle was completed in February 2017 and entered service in June. Salish Raven was completed in April 2017 and entered service ahead of schedule on August 3, 2017 after Queen of Nanaimo had significant mechanical issues preventing the ship from continued service. Salish Raven and Salish Eagle sail on the Southern Gulf Islands–Tsawwassen route. Sailish Orca sails on the Powell River–Comox route. A fourth Salish-class vessel will be built to replace on the Swartz Bay-Outer Gulf islands route. On November 1, 2019, Remontowa Shipbuilding signed a contract with BC Ferries to build the fourth Salish-class vessel. Construction for the fourth Salish-class vessel commenced on February 4, 2020. The vessel will be launched in November 2020. Shortly after entering service, the Salish-class vessels experienced several problems, the first problem was there was no galley ventilation system, at times the cafeteria's kitchen would reach extreme temperatures, making it unsafe for crews to work in the kitchen. In early 2018, all three Salish-class vessels had the galley ventilation system installed, fixing the issue. The ships external doors and elevators were also known to frequently break down, this issue has been partially resolved. On September 4, 2018, while Salish Eagle was docking at Sturdies Bay, the senior master misjudged the vessels speed and hit the dock harder than normal, no damage to the ship was done, and no one was injured, but it was discovered that there was minor damage to the berth walls. On November 7, 2019, Salish Raven suffered a malfunction in one of its propellers at roughly 9:30am after leaving Pender Island. A tugboat arrived to aid the ferry and all its passengers were disembarked by 1:30 pm. The vessel resumed sailing later that day.
