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MV Coho in Victoria harbor

Looking back on the bridge, from the bow.

The M/V Coho is an auto ferry operated by Black Ball Line. Black Ball owns and operates this single ferry between Victoria, British Columbia and Port Angeles, Washington.

Construction and Design

The Coho was designed by Spaulding & Associates of Seattle and is named after the coho salmon commonly found in the Puget Sound. The Coho was the first large vessel built on the West Coast in 20 years solely with private financing. The vessel was built by Puget Sound Bridge & Dry Dock in Seattle, Washington and made her first sailing to Victoria B.C. on December 29, 1959. She was originally powered by two Cooper-Bessemer diesel engines rated at 2,080 bhp (1,550 kW) each. In 2004 she was refitted with two V-12 Electro-Motive Division (EMD) diesels rated at 2,550 hp (1,900 kW) each. Coho has twin 8-foot (2.4 m) stainless propellers with twin rudders. Her overall length is 341.5 feet (104.1 m) with a service speed of 15 knots (28 km/h). The ship's vehicle clearance is 14 feet (4.3 m) with a carrying capacity averaging 100 vehicles and up to 1,000 passengers.^[1]

The design of the Coho was the basis for that of BC Ferries' first two ships, the Sidney class Queen of Sidney and Queen of Tsawwassen.

Terrorist incident

The Coho made news on December 14, 1999, when Ahmed Ressam was arrested by border authorities in Port Angeles after he attempted to enter the United States via Victoria on the Coho with home-made explosives and timing devices hidden in his car. He admitted he and accomplices had planned to bomb LAX on New Year's Eve, 1999.

Notes

External links

Photographs

• M/V Coho underway
• Designer, builder and owner of M/V Coho on her bridge during sea trials, 1959

Website

• Black Ball Transport Inc

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