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BC Ferries has announced that the British Columbia Ferries Commissioner has agreed that the company can reduce the current fuel surcharges by 50 per cent in order to reflect the recent drop in fuel prices.

Effective Tuesday, November 4, 2008, the fuel surcharges for the major routes connecting Vancouver Island to the Lower Mainland, the Southern and Northern Gulf Islands and the Horseshoe Bay – Langdale route will be reduced. BC Ferries’ northern routes are not subject to a fuel surcharge at this time.

“We will continue to have discussions with Commissioner Martin Crilly to determine at what point in the future we may be in a position to further adjust or remove the fuel surcharge all together,” said David L. Hahn, BC Ferries’ President and CEO.

“We are not able to completely eliminate the fuel surcharge at this time, as we are still paying for the spike in fuel prices that occurred earlier this year, before we implemented the fuel surcharge on August 1, 2008.”

BC Ferries says its annual fuel cost has risen over the past five years from from $45.9 million in 2003 to $86.8 million in 2008. The company estimates that its 2008/09 fuel costs could be over $120 million.

The Commissioner’s ruling about the reduction of the fuel surcharge is available at www.bcferrycommission.com.