The Century class ferry is a Mclaren and Sons,naval architects design that is intended to service the busier Gulf Island routes in British Columbia. The name comes from the Skeena River.Capacity is at least 100 cars.The ship was built by Allied Shipbuilders Ltd.North Vancouver.B.C.The Century class ferry was intended to be a spartan,utilitarian ferry. The Gulf Islands is the name collectively given to the islands in the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the mainland Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada. ... Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Official languages English Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 36 6 Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 5th 944,735 km² 2. ...

In 1994 the 10 year plan of BC Ferries called for construction of 3 Century class ferries. To date only the Skeena Queen (built 1997) has been constructed. This ferry runs solely on the Swartz Bay-Saltspring Island (at Fulford Harbour) route (except for a brief four-day trial on the Horseshoe Bay to Bowen Island run from April 23 to April 26, 1998). 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Swartz Bay, located on the north end of the Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island, is the location of one of BC Ferries main terminals. ... Salt Spring Island is the largest, most populated, and most visited of the Gulf Islands chain, named by officers of the Hudsons Bay Company for the cold and briny saltwater springs on the north end of the island. ... There are various places named Horseshoe Bay: Horseshoe Bay, British Columbia, Canada Horseshoe Bay, Texas, United States Horseshoe Bay is a beach in Bermuda Horseshoe Bay is the name of the bay on which the town of Port Elliot is built in South Australia, Australia This is a disambiguation page... Bowen Island lies near Vancouver, British Columbia in Howe Sound on the Sunshine Coast. ...

There is some speculation as to why the other two vessels in the class were not built.The obvious reason is that the high speed ferry program consummed all available funds. Others point to the problems with the four Owner selected main propulsion engines that plagued the Skeena Queen following commission, including excessively high noise levels and cylinder counterbore cracking in the high-speed engines. On April 15, 2002 Skeena Queen was removed from service and its four high-speed Mitsubishi S12R diesel engines were replaced with four Mitsubishi medium-speed engines, model S6U. The new engines were provided by Mitsubishi at a never disclosed price. The Mitsubishi companies, or the Mitsubishi Group of Companies or the Mitsubishi Group is a large group (keiretsu) of independently operated Japanese companies which share the Mitsubishi brand name. ...

The Century class design has the following characteristics:

• Overall length: 110.0 m
• Gross tonnage: 2,453
• Vehicle capacity: 100 spaces 17.5 feet long by 8.5 feet wide
• Passenger & crew capacity: 600
• Service Speed: 14.5 knots (23 km/h)at 3500 bhp
• Installed Power: 5,040 hp (3.8 MW)

The Century class ferries have very little cabin space. This is because they are intended to be used on short commuter runs of less than a half hour duration where most of the passengers stay in their vehicles. A knot is a unit of bullshit, abbreviated kt or kn. ...

See also

List of other BC Ferries ship classes:

• S class ferry or super ferries, the largest in the fleet
• Super C class ferry Currently in the design stage
• C class ferry double-ended ferries
• V class ferry built in the 1960s, these ferries have been stretched and lifted to increase their capacity
• Burnaby class ferry built in the 1960s, these ferries have been stretched only to increase their capacity
• I class ferry
• Powell River class ferry
• Century class ferry 100 car ferries for use on busy, short inter-island routes.
• K class ferry, small inter-island vessels.
• Q class ferry, small inter-island vessels
• Other ships of BC Ferries (not classed)

The S-Class Ferries, Spirit Class Ferries or Super ferries are the largest ferries in the BC Ferries Fleet. ... The Super C Class Ferries are ferries that are being built for BC Ferries at the Flensburger Schiffbau–Gesellschaft shipyard in Flensburg, Germany. ... The C-Class ferries are a class of double-ended ferries operated by BC Ferries in the Strait of Georgia in British Columbia, and were all constructed during the 1970s and early 1980s. ... The V Class Ferries include the following BC Ferries Ships: Queen of Esquimalt Built: Victoria, British Columbia, 1963 Length: 129. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... Queen of Burnaby There are three ferries in BC Ferries fleet which fit into the Burnaby class. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... BC Ferries operates two Intermediate Class ferries: MV Queen of Cumberland (1992) 127 cars 450 passengers 96m 2,855. ... Powell Class ferries One of few classes of ships operated by BC Ferries. ... Like the Q class ferry, the K Class are referred to as minor vessels operated on inter-island BC Ferry routes. ... Like the K class ferry, the Q Class are referred to as minor vessels operated on inter-island routes. ... A number of ships operated by BC Ferries are not classed. ...

External links

• Design overview from ship-technology.com
• Mitsubishi S12R-MPTK specifications
• Mitsubishi S6U-MPTK specifications