Monday, December 09, 2013

B.C. Ferries To Build Three New Ships


BC FERRIES ISSUES REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS 
TO BUILD THREE NEW LNG FERRIES
Canadian yard among shortlisted invited to participate


BC Ferries announced today that the company has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to five pre-qualified shipyards, including one Canadian proponent, to build three intermediate class ferries to replace the 48-year old Queen of Burnaby and the 49-year old Queen of Nanaimo. Both of these vessels are nearing the end of their service lives and will be retired in 2016.

BC Ferries intends to build two vessels capable of carrying 145 vehicles and up to 600 passengers and crew to replace the Queen of Burnaby, which sails between Comox and Powell River and to replace the Queen of Nanaimo, which services the Tsawwassen – Southern Gulf Islands route. A third vessel capable of carrying 125 vehicles and up to 600 passengers and crew will also be built to augment peak and shoulder season service on the Southern Gulf Islands route, plus provide refit relief around the fleet.

Nine pre-qualified shipyards responded to a Request for Pre-Qualification. An RFP has now been issued to invite the following five pre-qualified shipyards to participate further in the procurement process to design and build the three intermediate class vessels:

• Fiskerstrand Blrt As – Norway
• Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft mbH & Co.KG – Germany
• Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. – Poland
• Seaspan Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd. – Canada
• Sefine Shipyard – Turkey

“As we embark on this next phase of our newbuild program, these vessels will set a new standard of efficiency for the fleet,” said Mark Wilson, BC Ferries’ Vice President of Engineering. “Currently we operate 18 classes of vessels in a fleet of 35 ships. This project is the stepping stone to eventually bring the fleet into potentially five classes of vessels. Standardization of vessel classes will achieve cost savings by building ships with standardized equipment and systems, which will save maintenance and training costs, realize service flexibility across various route options, and interoperability between vessels.”

Note: Let's hope this time we will be able to award this contract to a Canadian company that is so close to home.

allvoices

No comments:

Post a Comment

Your comment will appear after moderation before publishing,

Thank you for your comments.Any comment that could be considered slanderous or includes unacceptable language will be removed.

Thank you for participating and making your opinions known.

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.