Olympic opening weekend slow for BC Ferries

The opening weekend of the Olympics proved slow for BC Ferries despite the addition of extra sailings.

"There's a sense that there may be people on Vancouver Island as well as Langdale that are postponing their trips into Vancouver if they are not Olympic related," said BC Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall.

Meanwhile, the number of foot passengers boarding the vessels has increased.

The ferry company has added an extra sailings in both directions on the Tsawwassen-Schwartz Bay, Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay and Langdale-Sunshine Coast routes. Marshall said that the ferry company wants to be able to make sure residents of Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast can go see the Games and sleep in their own beds that night.

The extra sailings cost $2 million each and haven't been full, Marshall said, adding the company expects traffic to pick up.

"While it's not a great money-maker opportunity right now, we feel that long-term down the road with tourism it's a great idea and we wanted to provide that opportunity to residents," Marshall said.

The ferry company will do a full financial assessment at the end of the Games period.

One of the Olympic-decorated Coastal Class vessels is out of service due to a problem with its turbo-chargers. It has been replaced by the Queen of Cowichan.