After purchasing "Stena Danica" from the Stena Line, the ship was rechristened "Queen of Surrey" by then NDP Minister of Transportation and Communications, Robert Strachan, in April 1974. "Queen of Surrey" began operating between Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver and Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. This busy route requires 8 transits per day and due to her RORO bow design, it was quickly evident that the vessel was unsuitable for this route since she could not be loaded and unloaded as fast as necessary. The ship was decommissioned in 1976 and laid up at BC Ferries' dockyard at Deas Island in Vancouver while the government debated what to do with her.