BC Ferries has signed a $45.5m Contract to construct a new intermediate-sized ferry slated for the Saltery Bay-Earls Cove route. Construction of the 125-car, 600 passenger, 328-ft. vessel will begin later this year at Vancouver Shipyards, a Washington Marine Group company, in North Vancouver. The design includes a lounge, snack bar and a new state-of-the-art lifesaving system. The ship is expected to enter service initially on the Saltery Bay route by the summer of 2008. Originally the new vessel was slotted to go to Bowen Island. The new vessel will allow BC Ferries to retire the 46-year-old Queen of Tsawwassen, the summer vessel on the route linking Powell River to the Sechelt peninsula.