Hi LB
This is what I have dug down to
MV Albert J. Savoie IMO 5126287 (image 1) is an N -Class 31metre ferry built for BC Ferries by Allied Builders of Vancouver in 1961 and registered as Victoria. The Transport Canada search can be found at
http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/saf-sec-sur/4/vrqs-srib/d.aspx?lang=e&shipid=314008 . A Deisel twin screw of 10 knots with a vehicle capacity of 16 and a passenger capacity of 133. For most of her ferry life, she served the route from Darrel Bay Ferry Terminal, just south of Squamish, BC, to Woodfibre, a pulp mill community on the west shore of Howe Sound. For her last years at BC Ferries, she served as a training vessel, based out of Deas Dock, BC Ferries refit center. In 2002, she was officially retired from BC Ferries. She was then bought by Mountain Marine Transportation and renamed
R.J Breadner IMO 5126287 to work around British Columbia as a work-boat out of Porpoise Bay .She was a BC Ferries identical sister to the N class Nimpkish, the Nicola and the Garibaldi II; the smallest class of vessels in the BC fleet. The ship is currently for sale by Harlow Marine International for $can199,500. This link to R.J Breadner and his family photos, it has the only helm image I have found so far and it's the renaming
http://www.pbase.com/portwelland/mountain_marine_transportation_ltd The vessel appears in the opening or 'homecoming' scene of the 2004 film Walking Tall (original was 1973)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0351977/ She bears the name The Albert J Savoie, though seen there as that ferry I believe she was (by this time) no longer owned by BC Ferries. According to local sources Capt. John Horn had to take the 'Savoie' back and forth between Britania Beach and Squamish 14 times (including the film crew following in a helicopter) just for that one opening shot. She very briefly appears right after the mgm lion in
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2258961689/ She has also been in another movie
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1053810/ called The Big Year, facts were damned elusive but the filming was at Darrell Bay near Squamish in May 2010 with Darrell Bay filling in as WSF's Anacortes Terminal. I found a picture of her arriving for filming; the Breadner possibly playing the Hiyu (no data yet). She flew an American flag during filming too. From the trailer at 1:40sec you can make out the out of focus vessel in the background http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCBAP2wId5M
Local boards in 2007 mention her appearing in a Suzuki car television ad for which the ferry was freshly painted in the Expo scheme and given fake bow doors. excapg2 is on The West Coast Ferries Forum at http://ferriesbc.proboards.com/index.cgi he was working as the Skipper of the R.J Breadner in the summer of 2008 so may also have been there in 2007 for the advert.
Page
http://www.workinglives.ca/ferries/song-albert-j-savoie.html just caught my interest as there are some childhood memories that leads to a song being written about the man Albert J. Savoie and his working life around ferries. A researcher might find it tempting to pick facts from it – you can listen at http://www.workinglives.ca/music/Albert-J-Savoie.mp3 or just read the text.
The British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. or more commonly known as BC Ferries is the Canadian ferry company that provides all ferry services in the western Canadian province of British Columbia. The company was formed in the late 50's, after a strike by employees of Black Ball Line caused the government to form BC Ferries. The very first route of the company was the Swartz Bay-Tsawwassen route with the first ferries of the fleet, the Sidney and the Tsawwassen serving the route. Since then, the company has grown massively with 25 main routes, 11 classes and 36 vessels currently owned by the company. The Spirit of British Columbia and the Spirit of Vancouver Island are the current flagships of the company. The company's worst accident occured in 2006, when the Queen of the North, bound for Port Hardy, collided with Gil Island and sank in the early hours of the morning. All but two passengers were rescued. Another infamous incident occured when the Queen of Oak Bay lost power outside the terminal at Horseshoe Bay and crashed into a nearby marina. Nobody was hurt and the ferry sustained minor damage. 28 pleasure craft, however, were either damaged or destroyed. My interest in this last paragraph really all stems from following the MV Kalakala history.