BC Ferries added an additional 90 sailings over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and still sold to over capacity Friday (Oct. 6) evening. (File photo)

On one of the busiest travelling weekends of the year, BC Ferries oversold tickets and had to ask passengers to voluntarily disembark, delaying sailings Friday evening.

The 7:30 p.m. sailing from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay was still docked at close to 8 p.m. according to commuters, who took to social media.

Oh my. First time in my 47yrs on the coast that I've had to wait for an overloaded ferry to find 21 volunteers to deboard. Past 1029 max cap — Mike Lloyd (@llikemoyd) October 7, 2017

“It was the Queen of Oak Bay due to depart at 7:30 p.m.,” BC Ferries public affairs manager Darin Guenette explained. “We had huge amounts of walk-on passengers, we ended up overselling by 21 people so we put out an announcement to ask for volunteers.”

More than the required 21 stepped up and boarded the Queen of Coquitlam, set to leave the dock 15 minutes later. BC Ferries accommodated those passengers, thanking them with $25 food vouchers without incident.

“This is notably the highest level of walk-on passengers all year,” Guenette said. “Even the busy summer weekends, we don’t see this amount of walk-on passengers.”

It’s a busy weekend ahead for foot passengers! We’re ready to welcome you aboard. Plan ahead here: https://t.co/XouObHt67a #BCFerries ^rl pic.twitter.com/Cr2kjnUiRT — BC Ferries (@BCFerries) October 6, 2017

To accommodate the surge of both foot and vehicle traffic on the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, BC Ferries has added an additional 90 sailings from Thursday through Monday. The majority of added sailings were on the Vancouver-Victoria route, Guenette said.

kristyn.anthony@vicnews.com

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