BC Ferries vessel auction draws single bid

Just a few hours before the auction on the Queen of Burnaby closed at 12 p.m. on Feb 15 the one and only bid listed was $425,000 excluding taxes and fees.

That's less than the price of a typical condo in Vancouver, and just$25,000 over the reserve price of $400,000 set for the BC Ferries vessel on govdeals.com.

BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall said in an email that they will evaluate any bids after the auction closes, and that "if that process does not produce a viable option" they would look for expressions of interest.

Apart from that, BC Ferries won't make any further comments until the vessel is actually sold, she said.

The 904-person capacity Queen of Burnaby, which services the Comox-Powell River Route, will make its last run at the end of March.

The 52-year-old vesselwill be replaced by the Salish Orca, which was built in Poland and will be the first ferry in B.C. capable of runningon liquid natural gas.

With files from Dan Burritt and Chad Pawson