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UPDATE: BC Ferries resumes service between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay

Sailings resume with 3 p.m. departures from Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay
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Morning ferry sailings are cancelled as high winds hit terminals. (Black Press Media file photo)

Service has resumed on ferries travelling between North Saanich and the Lower Mainland after sailings were cancelled Friday morning and afternoon.

As of 1 p.m., BC Ferries said service will resume with the 3 p.m. departures from Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen.

Heavy winds caused BC Ferries to cancel all 7 and 9 a.m. sailings between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay. The 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. sailings between the two destinations as well as the 2 p.m. sailing from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay were also cancelled.

READ ALSO: A dozen sailings between Greater Victoria and Greater Vancouver cancelled during first week of 2020

“The safety of our passengers and crew is of primary importance to us,” BC Ferries said in a service notice Friday morning. “We don’t take the decision to cancel sailings lightly, as we know customers rely on us to get to their destinations.”

Customers with cancelled reservations had their reservation fees fully refunded.

Once sailings resume, BC Ferries said customers will be loaded on a standby basis in their order of arrival at the terminal, after customers with a reservation have checked in.

The 3 p.m. sailings from Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay are 1oo per cent full and as of 2:05 p.m. the Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay ferry at 5 p.m. was 76 per cent full.

Environment Canada issued a wind warning for the region around 5 a.m., advising that a pacific frontal system moving across Vancouver Island would cause “strong winds that may cause damage.”

Southeast winds of 60 to 80 km/h were predicted to develop in the morning over Greater Victoria near Haro Strait, the Southern Gulf Islands, the north and central sections of east Vancouver Island, and the Sunshine Coast.

The winds were expected to ease up by noon.

Environment Canada warned that “loose objects may be tossed by the wind and cause injury or damage.” Drivers may need to adjust their driving with changing road conditions.

BC Ferries requests customers with reservations check-in at the terminals in accordance with scheduled sailing times to maintain reserved status.

READ ALSO: More B.C. Ferries sailings cancelled as windy weather persists

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