M/V

Ship prefix

A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship.Prefixes for civilian vessels may either identify the type of propulsion, such as "SS" for steamship, or purpose, such as "RV" for research vessel. Civilian prefixes are often...

 Northern Adventure is a RORO

RORO

Roll-on/roll-off ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo such as automobiles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers or railroad cars that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels...

 ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 operated by BC Ferries

BC Ferries

British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. or BC Ferries is a de facto Crown Corporation that provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry services for coastal and island communities in the Canadian province of British Columbia...

. It sails two routes: the scenic Inside Passage

Inside Passage

The Inside Passage is a coastal route for oceangoing vessels along a network of passages which weave through the islands on the Pacific coast of North America. The route extends from southeastern Alaska, in the United States, through western British Columbia, in Canada, to northwestern Washington...

 route between Port Hardy and Prince Rupert

Prince Rupert, British Columbia

Prince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and home to some 12,815 people .-History:...

 and the Queen Charlotte Island crossing between Prince Rupert and Skidegate

Skidegate

Skidegate is a Haida community in Haida Gwaii in British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the southeast coast of Graham Island, the largest island in the archipelago, and is approximately west of mainland British Columbia across Hecate Strait...

.

History

Construction on the ship began in Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 in 2001. Due to unspecified delays during construction of the hull, work was delayed, and construction was not completed until June 2004. The ship was first chartered by the Port Authority

Port authority

In Canada and the United States a port authority is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority for a special-purpose district usually formed by a legislative body to operate ports and other transportation infrastructure.Port authorities are usually governed by boards or...

 of Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...

 to run the route between Port of Spain

Port of Spain

Port of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population...

, Trinidad

Trinidad

Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...

, and Scarborough

Scarborough, Tobago

Scarborough, Tobago is the largest town in Tobago, one of the two main islands of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Its population is around 17,000, almost one-third of the population of the island. The town is dominated by Fort King George, an 18th century fortification named after King George...

, Tobago

Tobago

Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...

. Ship operations were managed by International Shipping Partners. The ferry then operated out of Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

 before being purchased by BC Ferries in a deal worth €

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

35.7 million, or $50.6 million CAD

Canadian dollar

The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...

The ship was painted in BC Ferries livery

Livery

A livery is a uniform, insignia or symbol adorning, in a non-military context, a person, an object or a vehicle that denotes a relationship between the wearer of the livery and an individual or corporate body. Often, elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or corporate body feature in...

 and sailed from Greece to Victoria, BC

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

 via the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

. The vessel arrived at the Victoria shipyards

Washington Marine Group

Seaspan Marine Corporation provides marine-related services to the Pacific Northwest. Within the Group are three shipyards, an intermodal ferry business, and a tug and barge transportation company that serves both domestic and international markets. Seaspan Marine Corporation is part of the...

 on December 18, 2006, where it underwent an $18-million refit and interior upgrade that finished in March 2007.

BC Ferries Service

Upon entering service the Northern Adventure initially replaced the Queen of the North

M/V Queen of the North

M/V Queen of the North was a RORO ferry built by AG Weser of Germany and operated by BC Ferries, which ran along a scenic 18-hour route along the British Columbia Coast of Canada between Port Hardy and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a route also known as the Inside Passage. On March 22, 2006,...

, which sank in March 2006, on the Inside Passage

Inside Passage

The Inside Passage is a coastal route for oceangoing vessels along a network of passages which weave through the islands on the Pacific coast of North America. The route extends from southeastern Alaska, in the United States, through western British Columbia, in Canada, to northwestern Washington...

 route. However, when the Northern Expedition entered service in early 2009 the Queen of Prince Rupert was decommissioned and the Northern Adventure was reassigned to replace the QPR and its Queen Charlotte Island duties.

Controversy

The Northern Adventure's maiden voyage was on March 31, 2007, leaving Port Hardy for Prince Rupert three hours late. According to news reports quoting Mark Stefanson, executive director of public affairs, the delay was “due to the crew checking things out.” After a short ribbon-cutting ceremony, 144 passengers and 39 vehicles boarded, only to be told the departure was delayed. Some passengers were disappointed that not all the staterooms were ready, and had to sleep sitting up or on the floor. However, many seemed to be impressed with the vessel.

The vessel had further troubles less than a week later when the April 6, 2007 departure from Prince Rupert was delayed more than 30 hours. Problems included a dry chemical leak from a fire extinguisher which set off fire alarms, a grey water tank overflowed, sending water into the galley, and a faulty public address system.

The use of non-union GMI labour (in contravention of the LIUNA collective agreement) in the Victoria Shipyards refit is currently a matter of arbitration.

There was also some controversy over the name of the ship - some believed that BC Ferries should have named the ship after the community of Hartley Bay, British Columbia

Hartley Bay, British Columbia

Hartley Bay is a First Nations community on the coast of British Columbia. The village is located at the mouth of Douglas Channel, about north of Vancouver and south of Prince Rupert...

, whose residents helped the passengers of the Queen of the North after the sinking.