VICTORIA – A task force recommendation to shut the MV Coho out of the Inner Harbour will not have support from surrounding businesses that cater to tourists, the vice president of Black Ball Transport Inc. predicted on Monday.

“We’re a bit in shock,” said Ryan Burles from the Victoria office of the U.S.-based business that operates the car-passenger ferry between Victoria and Port Angeles.

“We know we’re the number one carrier of ferry travelers to this city,” Burles said.

“We bring in 60 percent of the ferry travelers, and we do it more reliably and more affordably than anyone else.

The city’s task force was charged with proposing a redevelopment plan for the Belleville Street harborfront.

Among its recommendations was to move the Coho from the harbor to Esquimalt or Sidney to accommodate redevelopment, the Victoria Times Colonist reported on its Web site Monday.

(Click here on www.timescolonist.com to read about the $100 million redevelopment goals of the task force formed by the Victoria mayor.)