Starlink Dishes Spotted on BC Ferries as Crew Wi-Fi Testing Begins [Update]

A photo posted on Reddit shows Starlink high-performance dishes installed on a BC Ferries vessel, the first visible sign the British Columbia, Canada ferry operator’s satellite internet rollout for crews is underway.

Reddit user panuvic shared the image in r/bcferries on September 18, showing the vessel’s mast with its large traditional satcom dome and flat rectangular antennas mounted on the railings to either side. That hardware appears to be Starlink’s Flat High Performance dishes, built for in-motion and maritime use. Panuvic captioned the photo “but only for the crew for now,” and commenters agreed the connection is for staff rather than passengers, with one noting there is no plan to offer internet service to the public.

Image credit: panuvic

In December 2024, BC Ferries announced it was teaming up with Starlink to bring Wi-Fi to ferry crews at sea. At a Greater Vancouver Board of Trade event, CEO Nicolas Jimenez said serving 30 to 40 crew members is very different from serving up to 1,400 passengers, and the company did not want to reintroduce internet if it would raise ticket prices, as reported by CHEK News. Passenger Wi-Fi was discontinued in 2021 after the system, which launched in 2010, became overwhelmed, and the focus has stayed on testing Starlink for crew use first.

Starlink connectivity is already common on cruise ships, and Alaska’s MV Columbia ferry went further by launching free Starlink Wi-Fi for both passengers and crew. Starlink keeps growing on land as well, with Starlink recently expanding free Mini rentals to more residential customers and partnering with Mobicom to connect regular phones to satellites across Mongolia.

It’s unclear if the busiest BC Ferries route, between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen, will get Starlink.

Update, Sept. 23: Jianping Pan, a professor of computer science at the University of Victoria, reached out to Tesla North with more details on the installation.

Pan confirmed the Starlink hardware shown in his Reddit photo is aboard a Spirit-class ferry operating between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen, answering one of the questions raised in our original report. He also said installation work is underway on a Coastal-class vessel.

Asked whether Starlink remains limited to employees, Pan told Tesla North, “yes, it’s for the crew only now.”

He also believes passenger access could eventually follow, pointing to the number of terminals being installed. “i believe they will open to the public eventually, as the crew does not need 8 hp3 dishes,” Pan said.

Pan also pointed us to UVic’s LEO-NET testbed, which he described as the “world’s largest leo-sat-net testbed.” The research platform studies low-Earth-orbit satellite networks and services including Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb, Amazon Leo and Telesat Lightspeed.

Update Sept. 23, 2026: A BC Ferries spokesperson told Tesla North: “BC Ferries has implemented high speed-low latency satellite connectivity on all vessels to support operational and business communications, including real-time data transfer between vessels and shore. At this time, this connectivity is only for operational purposes and not for passenger use.”