Clipper Navigation

Clipper Navigation, Inc., is an American ferry operator and subsidiary of Förde Reederei Seetouristik based in Seattle, Washington. They provide multiple transportation and vacation packages—many of which are offered under the name Clipper Vacations—including hotel and tour packages in Victoria, Seattle, and Vancouver.

FRS Clipper Navigation Inc.
TypePrivate
Founded1986
Headquarters
Seattle, Washington
,
United States
ParentFRS Group
Websiteclippervacations.com
M/V San Juan Clipper known then as M/V Victoria Clipper III.

The company operates the Victoria Clipper, a high-speed passenger-only ferry service between Downtown Seattle and the Inner Harbour in downtown Victoria.

History

Clipper Navigation, Inc., was founded in 1986 with the original M/V Victoria Clipper I on the Seattle/Victoria route. The M/V Victoria Clipper II was actually two different boats that ran to the San Juan Islands. Then the M/V Victoria Clipper III (now M/V San Juan Clipper) was purchased. The service between Seattle and Friday Harbor provides orca and gray whale watching out of that port and has been in operation since 1991 daily from mid-May through September. As Clipper Navigation grew, it launched Clipper Vacations.

German navigation company Förde Reederei Seetouristik (FRS) acquired Clipper Vacations in 2016. FRS announced plans to expand the company's service to include routes between Victoria and Vancouver and between Florida and Cuba.[1]

Fleet

The Clipper fleet currently consists of two high speed catamarans, the M/V Victoria Clipper V and the M/V San Juan Clipper that serve Seattle, Victoria, and Friday Harbor.[2] The Clipper fleet is one of the fastest passenger vessels in the western hemisphere. [3][4]

Clipper Navigation was also responsible for operating the M/V Princess Marguerite III, a car ferry between Seattle and Victoria. Its operation was discontinued a decade ago due to the extremely high costs associated with the six-hour trip between ports. Currently, there is no car service between Seattle and Victoria. The primary choice for passengers with cars is either the Coho ferry out of Port Angeles or the Washington State Ferry from Anacortes, Washington to Sidney, British Columbia about 30 minutes from Victoria. Clipper Vacations can book passengers who wish to take the Coho in conjunction with a hotel stay. The Clipper also ran the M/V Victoria Clipper I, and the M/V Victoria Clipper IV.

Operations

The Clipper has one daily round-trip ferry service that travels between Pier 69 in Downtown Seattle and Downtown Victoria, taking approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes. The vessel carries 525 passengers.[5]

Clipper Vacations provides hotel and tour packages in Victoria, Seattle and Vancouver.

References
  1. Tu, Janet I. (January 19, 2016). "Seattle-based Clipper sold to German company; new routes planned". Seattle Times.
  2. "FRS Fleet". FRS GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  3. List of HSC ferry routes#Americas List of High Speed Ferry Routes, Americas
  4. Victoria Clipper Ferry | Ferry to Victoria BC | San Juan Islands Ferry. Clippervacations.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-12.
  5. Geraldo, Renata (September 1, 2023). "Victoria Clipper strike averted, avoiding Labor Day interruptions". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
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