Northern Routes spared BC Ferries increase in Fuel Surcharge

North Coast residents can find one sliver of good news from all of the media releases from BC Ferries of the last few months.

This time around, both the Northern Route to  and Port Hardy and th e Haida Gwaii route will be spared the 3.5 fare increase destined for all other BC Ferries routes to the south, set to be put in place to cover rising fuel costs.

Last week BC Ferries announced the need apply the surcharge to all routes except the Northern ones as the cost of fuel has dramatically risen over the last few months, in 2013 the cost of fuel for vessels of the fleet was 121 million, by comparison in 2004 the entire fleet spent but 50 million in fuel requirements.

With fuel prices not expected to decline in the near future, BC Ferries outlined that it had no other alternative at this time to cover off the cost of keeping the vessels on the water. To address the issue into the future, the Ferry Corporation advised that they are giving some consideration to have any new vessels planned to be built for the fleet to have LNG capability.

The fuel surcharge comes on the heels of a string of service cuts announced by the Ferry Corporation last November.

The fuel surcharge takes effect on January 17th.

You can review the full scope of the fuel surcharge from this media release from BC Ferries.

Media reviews of what will no doubt be an unpopular announcement can be found below.

CTV-- Amid cuts, BC Ferries adds 3.5 per cent fuel surcharge
CBC-- BC Ferries hiking fares 3.5% to cover rising fuel costs
Global TV-- Ferries getting even more expensive: New fuel surcharge effective Jan 17
24 Hours Vancouver-- BC Ferries adds new surcharge
Victoria Times Colonist-- B. C. Ferries adding 3.5% fuel surcharge to fares

Cross posted from the North Coast Review