BC Ferries' senior managers were reeling in titanic salaries before the province vowed to sink million-dollar paydays, newly released documents show.

Some 21 employees netted total earnings of more than $200,000 last year, with the five top managers pulling in a total of just under $3 million in compensation.

David Hahn, president of the publicly-regulated independent operator, took home about $984,000, including pension, bonus and benefits, compared to slightly more than $1 million the year before.

Hahn wasn't immediately available for an interview, but in the past he has defended his earnings under the quasi-private scheme.

The salary documents, which were posted online Thursday in response to an FOI request, also show a total of 976 BC Ferries employees earned more than $75,000 last year.

But the data includes both current and former employees for both the 2009 calendar year and 2009-2010 fiscal year. Of the 21 top-earners, 14 employees are active and seven were on a list of former employees who were either retired or let go in the same period.

A BC Ferries spokeswoman said at least three of the former employees left positions that hadn't been or weren't expected to be filled. The total of those three vice presidents' combined salaries was more than $1 million.

Accountability and disclosure restored

Hahn came under fire last year when he and his top four executives' salaries were first disclosed, revealing their earnings were about two times more than the money made by top executives at Crown-owned corporations such as B.C. Hydro and ICBC.

BC Ferries CEO David Hahn pulled in nearly a million dollars in compensation in 2009/2010, down slightly from the previous fiscal year. (CBC)

Then in April, former transportation minister Shirley Bond introduced legislation limiting annual salaries to levels on par with those paid to public sector bureaucrats, as opposed to the previous benchmark of salaries paid to top executives at major corporations such as Coca Cola, Nike and Ford.

But the move sought only to cap the salary and benefits of future hires.

BC Ferries was formerly a Crown corporation until restructuring in 2003 made it a private company with the provincial government as its largest client and single shareholder. The company continues to receive about $170 million a year from taxpayers.

In October, the government reapplied the accountability practice of requiring the company to release data under the Freedom of Information Act.

The company is among the largest ferry operators in the world, employing 4,200 people and carrying 21 million passengers on its 36 vessels over 25 routes.