B.C. Ferries’ three new intermediate-class vessels will be built in Gdansk, Poland, by Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. for $165 million. A contract was signed Thursday to design, build and deliver the ferries, which will run on liquefied natural gas, with diesel as backup.
“We have every intention to operate fulltime on LNG,” Mark Wilson, B.C. Ferries’ vice-president of engineering, said Thursday.
“These are design-build, fixed-price contracts that provide B.C. Ferries with substantial guarantees related to delivery dates, performance criteria, cost certainty and quality construction,” Wilson said.
Delivery dates are August 2016, October 2016 and February 2017.
The total budget is $252 million. That covers financing and project management, plus $51 million for Canadian taxes and federal import duties, B.C. Ferries said in its announcement.
Companies shortlisted for the job were Remontowa, Fiskerstrand BLRT AS of Norway, Sefine Shipyard of Turkey, Seaspan Vancouver Shipyards of North Vancouver and Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft of Germany, the company that built the three Coastal ferries for B.C. Ferries. Seaspan withdrew early this year, citing other commitments.
Remontowa was not the lowest bidder and cost was not the only factor, Wilson said. B.C. Ferries staff toured other shortlisted yards, evaluating bids using criteria such as experience building LNG vessels, ability to meet the deadline, overall design, and adherence to the shipbuilding contract.
The intermediate-class ferries will be 344 feet long, have two car decks, hold up to 145 vehicles and 600 passengers, and have food outlets. They will have state-of-the art equipment on the bridge, for lifesaving, and for propulsion, Wilson said.
Two of the new ships will replace the 49-year-old Queen of Burnaby, which runs between Comox and Powell River, and the 50-year-old Queen of Nanaimo, servicing the Southern Gulf Islands-Tsawwassen route. The third vessel will be used in peak and shoulder seasons on the Southern Gulf Islands run and to serve as a relief vessel for the fleet.
Crew size will be reduced by between three and six per vessel. B.C. Ferries will work with its union with the aim of cutting jobs through attrition, Wilson said.
The vessel purchase will be part of an effort to improve efficiency and lower costs by paring the number of ferry classes to five from 17 in the 35-vessel fleet, Wilson said. “Standardization offers greater inter-operability and lower crew training and maintenance costs, and also enhances safety.”
The new ferries will be the first in the fleet to be able to run on LNG and diesel. Currently, LNG is about half the price of diesel and is greener as well, B.C. Ferries said. In the last fiscal year, it spent $126 million on fuel, which represents about 20 per cent of operating costs.
B.C. Ferries is also examining whether it makes sense to convert its two Spirit-class ferries to LNG, he said. Several local companies have expressed interest in supplying LNG, Wilson said.
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Earlier story
Three new intermediate-class vessels will be built offshore by Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. in Gdansk, Poland, for $165 million, B.C. Ferries announced Thursday.
Ship contracts were expected to go offshore after North Vancouver-based Seaspan Marine pulled out of bidding early this year. Seaspan, which also owns Victoria Shipyards, was the only Canadian yard shortlisted for the work.
Seaspan said it was too busy with upcoming federal contracts to bid for this contract. It is also building a $15-million cable ferry for B.C. Ferries.
Even so, this contract is sparking renewed debate in B.C. over Ferries’ decision to open the bidding to international competitors.
George MacPherson, president of the Shipyard General Workers’ Federation, said Thursday that Ferries should have arranged for a consortium of B.C. yards to work together to build the ships, similar to what happened with the Spirit class ferries.
“It is extremely disappointing once again,” he said.
B.C. Ferries was criticized for building three Super-C class ferries in Germany in 2008 for $542 million. It cited lower cost and price guarantees as one of the reasons for going to Germany.
MacPherson said the workers are available and yards are not that busy.
The contract will “feed the economy” of another country, he said from Vancouver.
These three 105-metre-long ships will be the first in B.C. Ferries fleet to run either on liquefied natural gas or on diesel fuel.
The first ship is to be delivered to B.C. in August 2016, the second in October 2016, and the third in February 2017, a Ferries’ release said.
Remontowa is responsible for getting the ships to Victoria.
Two of the ships will replace the 49-year-old Queen of Burnaby, which runs between Comox and Powell River, and the 50-year-old Queen of Nanaimo, servicing the Southern Gulf Islands-Tsawwassen route. Vessel number three will be used in peak and shoulder seasons on the Southern Gulf Islands run and to serve as relief vessels throughout the fleet.
Each ferry will hold up to 145 vehicles and 600 passengers.
The total project budget is $252 million. That figure includes financing and project management costs, and $51 million for Canadian taxes and federal import duties, the release said.
“These are design-build, fixed-price contracts that provide B.C. Ferries with substantial guarantees related to delivery dates, performance criteria, cost certainty and quality construction,” Mark Wilson, Ferries’ vice-president of engineering, said in a statement.
“As we begin the next phase of our new build program, a key objective is to achieve capital and operating cost savings and efficiencies through an overall class and standardization strategy,” Wilson said.
“Standardization offers greater interoperability and lower crew training and maintenance costs, and also enhances safety. This is a significant step forward in taking B.C. Ferries from 17 classes of ships to five classes.”
Ferries said in its statement that it carried out an “extensive competitive bidding process to ensure that the company secured the best bid for its customers and the taxpayers of British Columbia.”
Remontowa Shipbuilding is one of the world’s leading shipyards with state-of-the-art design and production facilities, the release said.
It is part of the Remontowa Holding capital group specializing in ship design and construction of new ships, conversions and repairs, offshore units and steel structures. The shipyard was established in 1952 and privatized in 2001.
The other shortlisted yards are in Turkey, Norway, and Germany.
Bidders were evaluated on factors such as the design and construction plan, recent experience building intermediate ferries, capability of introducing new technology such as LNG, customer satisfaction, delivery schedule, price and payment terms, financial stability and ability to provide guarantees, Ferries said.
On the Web: http://www.remontowa-rsb.pl/
