Champagne bottles smashed against the hulls of Salish Eagle and Salish Raven as the vessels marked another step toward their entry into the B.C. Ferries fleet, the Crown corporation said Thursday.
The maritime tradition, believed to bring good luck to the ships and its crews, took place at Remontowa Shipbuilding SA in Gdansk, Poland as part of an official naming ceremony.
“It’s another very exciting milestone as we get closer to bringing these three Salish-class vessels into service,” said Mark Wilson, B.C. Ferries vice-president, engineering.
“All three ships are in the water now and the [Salish Orca] is in an advanced stage of outfitting.”
The vessels, which will be the first in B.C. Ferries’ fleet to run on natural gas, are on budget and on schedule to begin service by summer 2017, he said.
The original budget of about $250 million has been reduced by about $50 million, since the federal government waived the duty tax requirement for building abroad, Wilson said.
“We’re left with a budget of about $200 million and we’re on budget,” he said.
Introduction of the vessels will likely be staggered at about two-month intervals, he said. Salish Orca is expected to arrive in B.C. first, by the end of this year, and will go into service after staff are trained on the new ship. Training is expected to take between two and four months.
