Hullo Ferries eyes expansion to six ships for Vancouver to Victoria service

Nanaimo terminal; Hullo Ferries' inaugural day of service on August 16, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Hullo Ferries has had a very challenging start this week with the delayed launch of its high-speed, passenger-only catamaran ferry service between downtown Vancouver and downtown Nanaimo.

But its operators are suggesting they are here to stay and have a long runway in their capacity to overcome the current operational learning curve, grow ridership, and become an integral part of the transportation options between Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island.

They are promising that the service will become more resilient and reliable over time, with the current Vancouver-Nanaimo service within a soft-opening, two-week period through August 30. More daily scheduled sailings will be introduced starting on August 31.

The longer-term plan is for expansion beyond the Vancouver-Nanaimo service.

Xander France, the director of marketing of Hullo Ferries, told Daily Hive Urbanized there are plans to grow the fleet from its current size of two vessels to six vessels.

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This will enable not only further improvements to the Vancouver-Nanaimo service but the creation of the added major route between downtown Vancouver and Victoria.

“We know there’s so much demand for the service. Once we have these hotel and tourism partners and everything starts to grow, we want to make sure there are more vessels for both an expanded route to Nanaimo, but also to expand for future routes with Victoria on the horizon,” said France.

Hullo Ferries’ vessels in use are brand new, built in Vietnam. Each vessel can hold 350 seated passengers.

hullo ferries vancouver nanaimo august 16 2023

Vancouver terminal; Hullo Ferries’ inaugural day of service on August 16, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

The private company also has plans to expand with ancillary operations with added experiences and services, such as special event-based sailings onboard the vessels.

The last attempt to link Vancouver and Victoria with a high-speed catamaran vessel was made by V2V Vacations, which operated between 2017 and early 2020 before the pandemic. But unlike Hullo Ferries, V2V Vacations operated as a luxury tourist sightseeing service, with fares ranging between $120 and $240, depending on class. It made one roundtrip daily, with each sailing taking 3.5 hours at slower maximum speeds than Hullo Ferries. Numerous sailing cancellations were experienced during V2V Vacations’ short operations due to varying reasons, including mechanical issues on their single 250-seat catamaran vessel.

Hullo Ferries is intended to provide not only more convenient transportation options but also a mid-tier option, with BC Ferries being the cheapest option and Harbour Air and Helijet being the upper-tier services.

A more comparable service is the FRS Clipper, which runs a route between downtown Seattle and Victoria Inner Harbour with a travel time of two hours and 45 minutes. Its flagship vessel, the Victoria Clipper V, is a high-speed catamaran vessel with a capacity for 525 passengers. A one-way fare is as low as $156 (US$115) in economy, depending on the time of the year. This route’s distance is comparable to the distance between downtown Vancouver and downtown Victoria.

The Clipper is year-round, but makes just two sailings (one roundtrip) per day.

Earlier this summer, the provincial government announced it would proceed with its plans to build a new $300 million replacement ferry terminal in Victoria Inner Harbour on the footprint of Belleville Ferry Terminal. This is an international ferry terminal for both FRS Clipper and Black Ball Ferry Line.

Regular fares for Hullo Ferries’ current route between downtown Vancouver and downtown Nanaimo currently start at $39.99 (US$29.99) for the 75-minute ride each way.

Currently, the journey between downtown Vancouver and downtown Victoria takes nearly four hours in optimal conditions, including the one-hour and 35-minute BC Ferries ride between the Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay terminals and the car rides to get to/from the terminals. Bus public transit options add to the travel time significantly.

A vessel of Clipper in Victoria Inner Harbour. (Clipper)

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