MV Baynes Sound Connector

The Baynes Sound Connector is a car ferry owned and operated by B.C. Ferries that runs between Buckley Bay on Vancouver Island and Denman Island. It is the first and only cable ferry in the BC Ferries fleet and replaced the self-propelled MV Quinitsa in February 2016.

Red and green transit lights are installed at both Buckley Bay and Denman West terminals facing oncoming marine traffic in each direction. It is illegal to cross the channel while the red light is on, signifying the ferry is in transit.

The crossing with a length of 1961.48 metres is the longest cable ferry crossing in the world. It uses 2 guide cables and a third driving cable.

History
In 2013 BC Ferries, Dynamic Systems Analysis and E.Y.E. Marine Consultants presented a paper at the SNAME Annual Meeting showing design elements and numerical simulations of the proposed ferry, in particular the hydraulically driven bull wheels operating on a single traction cable and two guide cables - 1.625" cables to be pretensioned with 200 kN - and pontoon docking.

The ferry was built by Seaspan at its Vancouver Shipyards at a cost of CAD$15 Million. It is a 258-foot-long ferry designed for 150 passengers and 50 vehicles.

Its construction suffered delays and trial mishaps and the project has been drawing heavy criticism for using more fuel than the previous ship and for a lower service reliability notably caused by the downtime during excessive wind speed. BC Ferries denied the allegations.

In 2019 the Baynes Sound Connector in the 3 years since launch surpassed 30,000 sailings and saved more than 415,000 liters of fuel on route. In the same year it was criticized for shedding plastic from the cables.

A BC Ferries review of 16 February 2023 identified persisting problems with "overheating of the hydraulic motors, bolt cracking on the bull-wheel and hull fouling". "The broad community continues to be unsupportive of the vessel and reactions to potential increased investment remain highly negative." The review recommends to meet increasing demand with an additional smaller conventional ferry at peak times and to repower and expand the Baynes Sound Connector e.g. in 2034.