The new Harrop cable ferry is now in service on Kootenay Lake.
The former ferry service held a maximum of 48 passengers and 21 vehicles. The new ferry, which plies between Harrop and Longbeach, can take 98 passengers and up to 24 vehicles.
The Harrop II is the third vessel to be delivered under a contract with Waterbridge Steel of Nakusp. In 2016, the company was awarded a $27.9-million contract to design and build four new cable ferries to serve the provinces inland routes. The final vessel, the Arrow Park III, is scheduled to be in service by the end of 2019. The Glade II was added to the fleet in 2018 and the Adams Lake II went into service in spring 2017.
These new ferries are larger and able to carry more vehicles than the ferries they replace, with capacity increased to handle commercial vehicles at full highway loads. While the ferries are docked during off-peak hours, power will be supplied by on-board batteries. This will reduce noise at the terminal and lower the vessels greenhouse gas emissions.
The Harrop cable ferry carried more than 290,000 vehicles and more than 419,000 passengers last fiscal year.