|
Post by Low Light Mike on Aug 9, 2007 10:17:45 GMT -8
Here's another summary of Blackshadow's info, this time re the 3 Coastal-class ships, re their introduction timing and placement: =========================
Coastal Renaissance: - Flensburger Yard-733 - Currently launched and undergoing trials - Arriving fall 2007; expected to be in service January 2008 on Route-2.
Coastal Inspiration - Flensburger Yard-734 - Currently undergoing final pre-launch assembly - Arriving winter (ie. Jan/Feb) 2008; expected to be in service spring 2008 on Route-30.
Coastal Celebration - Flensburger Yard-735 - Currently undergoing prelim/early assembly - Arriving early summer 2008; expected to be in service summer 2008 on Route-1
========================
|
|
|
Post by Curtis on Aug 9, 2007 12:12:20 GMT -8
This Explains Alot.
Now that I think about it...it makes sense putting the New West on Route 1 so we don't have another C Class grounded in Active Pass incident...Might be good for overhight vehicles though. This sounds crazy, but I wonder...The Coastal Celebration is going to have a Buffet Could the New West follow...I wonder what we can expect from her 3/4 Life Upgrade. I can vision a SeaWest Lounge in the Upper Aft Lounge, and enclosing the Solarium so they can place the Coastal Cafe in there and the Pacific Buffet in the Cafeteria area (or Vice-Versa). [EDIT] Anyone got information on the New West's Upgrade? [/EDIT]
|
|
|
Post by Low Light Mike on Aug 9, 2007 12:54:12 GMT -8
Now that I think about it...it makes sense putting the New West on Route 1 so we don't have another C Class grounded in Active Pass incident Is this because the rocks in Active Pass are made of magnetic material that attracts the C-Class steel (and only C-Class steel) ? ;D Good thing that you didn't fly in an airplane today, because one crashed last month...... ----------------------- Flugel Horn: official rebutter of the "king of posts"....all in good fun, of course.
|
|
|
Post by Hardy on Aug 9, 2007 19:05:25 GMT -8
At the risk of being chastised that I haven't "picked up on the new development yet", I will wait until something is announced re this. Then I'll get my Marshall/Hahn spin-filter, and consider what they are saying. But for now, they're not saying anything. Sometimes saying nothing says everything ... or at least whispers something. Thanks for pointing out the clues that have appeared ... not all of them may be related ... some of them may, some may not, there may be others that we have not unearthed. As I have said many times, it is fun to speculate, but I too will take a back seat and wait for ACTION rather than words. I admit that I can get riled up and my stupidity-detector goes off prematurely, but at least I haven't been RANTING about speculated VESSEL movements ... only lack thereof during crisis situations! LOL
|
|
Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,196
|
Post by Neil on Aug 9, 2007 19:27:57 GMT -8
Nice to have the actual information from that company memo, as opposed to a bunch of guessing and speculation. (I know it's fun.. for a while.) Good to have a shiny new boat on route 30. Let the mourning for the Vs begin. Don't think I'll join in; the old girls have given great service, but their day has come. We wouldn't want to see them hanging around like WSF's dear old S.E's, getting to the point where they're kept afloat with bondo and duct tape. Although, Mr Barnacle has probably been sworn to secrecy about the bondo and duct tape.
|
|
|
Post by kylefossett on Aug 10, 2007 14:50:56 GMT -8
it is all speculation until that first day of operations with all 3 new vessels.
|
|
|
Post by staffer on Aug 12, 2007 8:11:45 GMT -8
it is all speculation until that first day of operations with all 3 new vessels. That is the best way to say it there. Who knows? Down here at main headquarters in Victoria, we never know what is ACTUALLY happening with new ships. I swear that upper management loves the constant rumours about where the ships are going. One thing that has some traction is route 30 getting one of the new vessels. Many truckers and non-commercial OH vehicle drivers have phoned in the past year warning the corporation that they will go back to using route 2 during busy times if route 2 does get two coastal boats. In the TC article it does mention that Langdale has been made to fit a coastal ship. That is true because in the future if a fourth coastal vessel is made, it would be docked at Langdale. This is hypothetical and not confirmed.
|
|
|
Post by Northern Exploration on Aug 12, 2007 12:09:34 GMT -8
Once one of the new Coastals is on duty and they have a chance to see it in operation, (and can budget for it) I can certainly see a follow on order. I can't see any other options for BC Ferries once all the retirement of vessels start and the increase in traffic to the Island with all the growth, particularly in the mid area of the Island. With property costs in the south rising, more and more retirees are going to continue to move north. I know a few people with properties that are doing very well for that reason. One friend from Toronto with a house in Parksville rents it out for a vacation home. She is going to move "home" and use it as her retirement place eventually. In the mean time she has to fight to save any time for herself and partner to use. She gets offers to buy very very frequently even though it is not on the market. She is now considering buying the houses on either side and the bank is more than happy to loan her the money.
|
|
|
Post by Scott (Former Account) on Aug 15, 2007 17:25:34 GMT -8
From BCFS News Release - 'FIRST SUPER C-CLASS TO SET SAIL FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA NEXT MONTH' Located here.
|
|
|
Post by Gunny on Aug 22, 2007 7:34:50 GMT -8
The ship that I question the placement of is the Celebration, especially in the winter time. As there are not a lot of regularly scheduled extra sailings in winter, meaning BC Ferries new boat will sit and rust. I could see the Celebration moving to Route 2 during this time, just so it can be run.
|
|
|
Post by Political Incorrectness on Aug 22, 2007 11:32:52 GMT -8
She could be moved to Route 2 during winter, perhaps 30 to replace the Inspiration and Route 3 to replace the Surrey during refit season but I doubt that.
|
|
|
Post by Dane on Aug 22, 2007 17:49:45 GMT -8
These vessel placements are quite dumb I think. I sort of understand Route 1 getting one, although there hasn't been any announcements of the sort I think we'll see the Coastal used all year as a #2, and taking over for the Spirits during their refits in the very low ridership period (which is almost gone - demand is seems to be rising on the route).
The decision to put one of Rte 30 just makes me shake my head. Rte 2, with the C Class have crammed vessels several months out of the year due to lack of space. Now they sending a ship with large passenger areas onto a route where there is almost no foot traffic and a majority of deck space is taken up by large commercial vehicles, not buses or cars.
Seriously stupid. I hope to be at the BCFS AGM to query this.
|
|
Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,196
|
Post by Neil on Aug 22, 2007 18:30:21 GMT -8
I'm not really making any point, but just to aid the discussion, here are some comparative figures on the three major mainland- Island runs, from the latest report to the BC Ferries Commission, latest fiscal year...
Total round trips- Route 1- 4,029 2- 3,154 30- 2,763
Vehicles carried (AEQ's) 1- 2,257,713 (down 8700 from previous year) 2- 1,480,832 (up 19000) 30- 819,984 (up 5000)
Passengers carried 1- 6,050,038 (down 55000) 2- 3,704,200 (up 115000) 30- 1,392,073 (up 30000)
Vehicle capacity utilized 1- 78.6% 2- 65.6% 30- 51.7%
|
|
|
Post by Dane on Aug 22, 2007 18:36:18 GMT -8
Vehicle capacity utilized1- 78.6% 2- 65.6% 30- 51.7% .... and Rte 30 has, by far, the lowest capacity of the three routes.
|
|
|
Post by WettCoast on Aug 22, 2007 19:18:28 GMT -8
Yes, I have to agree. The decision to put a coastal on route 30 is questionable to say the least.
There should be two assigned to route 2 and the other to route 1 (Swartz Bay) as the 3rd vessel on that route. That 3rd vessel would float in the fall/winter/spring to cover for refits of other Coastal & Spirit class vessels.
BCFS's should also be looking at ordering at least one more coastal class vessel as the 2nd Tsawwassen based ship on route 1. The numbers shown above support such a move.
|
|
|
Post by Scott (Former Account) on Aug 22, 2007 20:13:07 GMT -8
Inspiration's placement on Route 30 is only for testing, not long term...
This placement is to decide how this particular design handles high amounts of overheight traffic. From this testing, they will decide what will be needed and what will need to be omitted for the next set of ships seeing long term placement on Route 30...
Once the testing is complete, she should be servicing Route 2 out of Horseshoe Bay...
|
|
|
Post by Hardy on Aug 22, 2007 20:41:48 GMT -8
Vehicle capacity utilized1- 78.6% 2- 65.6% 30- 51.7% .... and Rte 30 has, by far, the lowest capacity of the three routes. I've stayed away from the forums for a while after taking my lickings for my non-constructive comments. However .... you need to take these numbers in context too. If you are filling up your lower deck (trucks) with OH and only have about 20 cars total on your upper deck, you may be at 51% capacity, but all your revenue is in the trucks onboard. Rte30 is the truckers alternative to Rte2. The numbers that are presented do not tell the full story. Just look at a typical loadout on Rte30 of cars versus OH vehicles and you will see what I am talking about. This has been stated several times, but I felt I needed to bring this up in light of the current discussion. I will now resume lurking.
|
|
|
Post by Dane on Aug 23, 2007 10:11:19 GMT -8
you need to take these numbers in context too. I was, that's why I think it's particularly goofy, but I am happy to read Scott's post above. Trucks provide a lot of revenue, and fill a lot of space, thus, above the vehicle deck they provide negligable revenue compared to what would be expected on Rte 1, and to a lesser extent Rte 2.
|
|
Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,196
|
Post by Neil on Aug 23, 2007 10:34:57 GMT -8
A look at comparative revenue from vehicles, showing that the disparity is not quite as great as between the total number of vehicles carried- which indicates, perhaps, that a deck full of trucks brings in more money than a deck full of cars? But then of course, you have far fewer passengers.
Vehicle revenue
1- $82,478,544 2- 52,491,211 30- 36,428,185
|
|
|
Post by Curtis on Aug 24, 2007 8:39:42 GMT -8
Inspiration's placement on Route 30 is only for testing, not long term... This placement is to decide how this particular design handles high amounts of overheight traffic. From this testing, they will decide what will be needed and what will need to be omitted for the next set of ships seeing long term placement on Route 30... Once the testing is complete, she should be servicing Route 2 out of Horseshoe Bay... If they want to Improve the Traffic on route 30, I say they should just build a new vessel instead of taking a ferry that's more suited for one of the two busiest routes in the system.
|
|
|
Post by Nucksrule on Oct 8, 2007 17:22:22 GMT -8
I believe that the coastal ships are so versatile they might not have set routes for their first few years of service. But eventually I believe that there will be two coastals and two c's doing hourly sailings on HSB-DB.
|
|
|
Post by Balfour on Oct 8, 2007 18:01:33 GMT -8
I believe that the coastal ships are so versatile they might not have set routes for their first few years of service. But eventually I believe that there will be two coastals and two c's doing hourly sailings on HSB-DB. That's been needed on route 2 for a very long time! I really hate that gap in the schedule between the 12:30 and 3PM sailings and lets not forget the high amount of traffic on the route too.
|
|
|
Post by Jeremy on Feb 22, 2008 23:27:18 GMT -8
Here is my opinion on vessel placement once all three super C's are operational. This educated guess keeps in mind that the rest of the V class except for the Queen of New Westminster being retired, a super C for every mainland-VI route as reported by BCF, and avoiding using the original C-class boats on route 1 because of issues with Active Pass transit. This of course would be the Summer layout.
Route 1: Spirit of British Columbia Spirit of Vancouver Island Queen of New Westminster Coastal Celebration
Route 30: Coastal Inspiration Queen of Alberni
Route 2: Coastal Renissance Queen of Oak Bay* Queen of Cowichan*
Route 3: Queen of Surrey*
I could see Queen of Couqitlam* being a extra boat for both Routes 2 and 3 and regularly used during the Summer.
*=Interchangable with other original C-class boats except Queen of Alberni.
|
|
|
Post by depbay on Jul 16, 2007 17:23:39 GMT -8
Does anyone have an idea (speculation and rumours welcome) how the major vessels will be distributed once the the trio of SuperC's are operational? The rumours (unreliable at best) I am hearing for the SuperC's is two to Departure Bay and one to Swartz Bay. And of course once the new ships are plying the strait this will free up other vessels for different routes or the for sale bin (hello queen of esquimalt) I am thinking it is almost certain both the Spirit twins will stay on the Tsawwassen-Swartz run. Add a SuperC to this route and you've got serious capacity out of only 3 ships (perhaps more than is required for off season runs?) Over at Departure Bay, if you throw 2 SuperC's into the mix this would free up either the Cowichan or Coquitlam, or likely both outside of summer runs. Which brings us to the NewWest running the Duke Point route. The old girl does seem to be in the Corps plans for at least another decade what with some serious refitting planned but I'm not so certain she will remain on the Duke Point run once the new ships are in service and the larger and faster Cowichan and Coquitlam are looking for new homes.
|
|
|
Post by Balfour on Jul 16, 2007 17:33:24 GMT -8
Welcome to the forum!
You are correct about the distribution. There will be 2 Coastal Class vessels on the Horseshoe Bay - Nanaimo run and 1 on the Tsawwassen - Swartz Bay run. One of the original C class will be sent to the Tsawwassen - Swartz run as well.
The Queen of New Westminster is specially built for the Duke Point run, so she is due to undergo a major refit and will continue to service Duke Point. The C class will not be regulars on route 30.
|
|