Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2016 9:15:37 GMT -8
Interesting speech of the PM of Fiji. Also interesting down there, is that the government has let a private company take the helm for marine transportation. I remember the QPR having issues with the asbestos being exposed to the public - I'd never ride that ship as it is now.
Anyways, thanks for posting that. It was odd to see the BCF signage down on the car deck still. Apparently the LP III can carry 700 pax; she was previously licensed for roughly 350.
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Post by WettCoast on Jan 28, 2016 9:37:33 GMT -8
Apparently the LP III can carry 700 pax; she was previously licensed for roughly 350. The QPR was licensed for 800 passenger when she was briefly the Victoria Princess in the summer of 1980. At that time she was replacing the Princess Marguerite which had a passenger license for 1800.
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heretix
Deckhand
Former sailor, commercial driver and logistics administrator
Posts: 72
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Post by heretix on Jan 28, 2016 10:18:36 GMT -8
I certainly hope that they know what they're doing. Every year, the news report about some overcrowded ferry in the Asia-Pacific part of the world capsizing and sinking with the loss of hundreds of lives as the sad result. So far, Fiji hasn't been a part of those statistics, which most often seem to affect Bangladesh and the Philippines, but one never knows. Bear in mind that the LP III was originally designed for the protected waters on the 35 minutes crossing between Horten and Moss in the Oslo Fjord.
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Post by Starsteward on Jan 28, 2016 15:04:59 GMT -8
Interesting speech of the PM of Fiji. Also interesting down there, is that the government has let a private company take the helm for marine transportation. I remember the QPR having issues with the asbestos being exposed to the public - I'd never ride that ship as it is now. Anyways, thanks for posting that. It was odd to see the BCF signage down on the car deck still. Apparently the LP III can carry 700 pax; she was previously licensed for roughly 350. 'SC Commuter', you state: "that the government.....marine transportation". Could you please clarify what you mean by 'take the helm' for marine transportation? In Fiji, the responsibility for regulating marine transportation is conducted by the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji. Their comprehensive website at: www.msaf.com.fj is comfortably enlightening. In a November 4th, 2015 Fiji Sun article found at: www.fijisun.fj/2015/11/04committed-to-the-shipping-and-maritime-industry/, reporter Caroline Ratucadra interviews Mr. john Tunidau, Chief Executive Officer of the M.S.A.F and poses several enlightening questions, especially the question regarding the policy of no longer registering overseas purchased ships that are over 20 years old. Mr. Tunidau's response should bring some comfort to some of our learned forum members who have "issues" with BC Ferries selling 'junk' vessels off to 'third world 'countries. I would argue that Fiji should be classified as a 'developing nation', that has enacted more prudent government /public maritime policies that far exceed non-existent or poorly administered maritime policies of nations that are brought to light, (or not), by periodic news of another life-taking maritime accident. Are we to assume there is a relevant connection between the "private company.." sentence of your post, and your reference of the 'QPR's "asbestos issues" and "public exposure"? Are we also to interpret from the 'asbestos issue' statement that these "issues" remain a threat to public safety? You then make the statement: "I'd never ride that ship as it is now". In my opinion, you are clearly inferring that there remains a clear threat to public safety, and a statement that can only be construed as having several legal ramifications. Having spent several years working on the 'Queen of Prince Rupert' and travelling on her many times since, including what was to be her last official southbound trip from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy, I have always been aware of some of the "asbestos stories" on the old girl. I am happy to report that I have yet to be diagnosed with any symptoms or illnesses related to any airborne asbestos particles that I may have ingested in ANY public and or working areas, the 'tween deck' crew accommodations, and some unmentionable nooks and crannies above and below the waterline that were part of the 'QPR'.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2016 23:25:05 GMT -8
'SC Commuter', you state: "that the government.....marine transportation". Could you please clarify what you mean by 'take the helm' for marine transportation? In Fiji, the responsibility for regulating marine transportation is conducted by the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji. Their comprehensive website at: www.msaf.com.fj is comfortably enlightening. There is no government-run ferry service in the Fiji islands. In a November 4th, 2015 Fiji Sun article found at: www.fijisun.fj/2015/11/04committed-to-the-shipping-and-maritime-industry/, reporter Caroline Ratucadra interviews Mr. john Tunidau, Chief Executive Officer of the M.S.A.F and poses several enlightening questions, especially the question regarding the policy of no longer registering overseas purchased ships that are over 20 years old. Mr. Tunidau's response should bring some comfort to some of our learned forum members who have "issues" with BC Ferries selling 'junk' vessels off to 'third world 'countries. I would argue that Fiji should be classified as a 'developing nation', that has enacted more prudent government /public maritime policies that far exceed non-existent or poorly administered maritime policies of nations that are brought to light, (or not), by periodic news of another life-taking maritime accident. It appears the article has been removed (I added .com and it tells me "someone has been here...and he probably broke this page" lol). However, I think we generally agree regarding Fiji being a developing nation. When that change came out I thought it was a bit of a step backwards, however I did not dive into it much further. Are we to assume there is a relevant connection between the "private company.." sentence of your post, and your reference of the 'QPR's "asbestos issues" and "public exposure"? Are we also to interpret from the 'asbestos issue' statement that these "issues" remain a threat to public safety? You then make the statement: "I'd never ride that ship as it is now". In my opinion, you are clearly inferring that there remains a clear threat to public safety, and a statement that can only be construed as having several legal ramifications. I suppose that a reader could correlate those two. I guess I put the sentences close together. However, I would not board the vessel in its current state. A particular quote caught my attention when this article came out, which begs the question, would the vessel have passed a Public Health inspection here on that same day? The quote, apparently from Goundar, was the following, "MSAF gave me, when it was the old MSAF, they said that the vessel was ok for Fiji." You go on to say that my statement could usher in several legal issues, presumably slander/libel - I do not see how stating my life choices would put me in legal jeopardy (assuming that's what you mean). Some may not want to board the Queen of Sidney due to similar hazards. Granted, her owner is not running any "known" businesses relating to the ship, but I fail to see how making such a statement could potentially have a person land into some hot water.
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Post by northwesterner on Jan 29, 2016 8:03:18 GMT -8
Interesting speech of the PM of Fiji. Also interesting down there, is that the government has let a private company take the helm for marine transportation. I remember the QPR having issues with the asbestos being exposed to the public - I'd never ride that ship as it is now. I'm surprised by a couple of your statements in this post. In most parts of the world, the private sector handles marine transportation. Pretty much everywhere but the US and Canada ferry transportation is operated by private companies. The US and Canada are unique in that over the years most of these services have either been established or taken over by government operators. We are the outlier and Fiji is the standard. One of the great things about capitalism is the relative simplicity for someone with expertise to recognize a needed service, raise some cash, and go out and provide that service to people who are willing to pay for it. If Gounder hadn't stepped up, who would? Meanwhile, with regards to the "I'd never ride that ship as it is now" fine, don't ride it. But when traveling out of the first world, your safety and risk tolerance has to relax, substantially, or you would never walk out the door of your accommodation in the morning. Old, worn out transport is the norm, and never will you see the safety standards you are used to. That does not make these ferries (or buses, or taxes) a hazard to your health, or something to be overly concerned about. You do need to keep your eyes open, and pick the best among what is typically a myriad of choices. Yes, the accident rate is higher in the developing world, but if lost sleep at night worrying about that stuff, you'd never leave North America. Recently, I rode two ferries on Lake Cocibolca in Nicaragua. The first was a small, locally operated passenger ferry. It was pretty questionable, and when we got going, alarm bells started going off when I realized that rather than buy and install an electric bilge pump, a small battalion of deckhands were switching off on a manual pump, sloshing the bilge water overboard for the whole trip. I started looking around for lifesaving equipment and plotted my escape should the proverbial **** hit the fan. On the way back, I was on a much larger auto ferry that was originally from Holland (all the signage was from Dutch). It was built sometime in the 1970s. Seemingly safer than the boat with the manual bilge pump, but as I looked around, I could see numerous modifications from its original design and it certainly wouldn't meet modern European safety standards. And yet, life goes on. Regarding the exposed asbestos .... one could, as recently as a couple of years ago, still ride ferries between EU countries on the Mediterranean that certainly had an asbestos risk, based on their age and their mostly original state inside. Again, I'm not losing sleep thinking calculating what my risk profile for developing mesothelioma is from crossing between Croatia and Italy a couple times over the years on ferries that were the same age as the QPR. Finally, given all of the above, I would much rather ride a ferry run by a guy like Goundar, who has a strong background in marine engineering and safety standards in a place like Fiji than operated by someone else without the background. His standards in Fiji will be lower than what we are used to, but certainly are far higher than if a different local started up the company without that exposure to western standards.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2016 10:05:37 GMT -8
While I generally concede to the rest of your post you and I both know that this is not the case: We are the outlier and Fiji is the standard. Privatization goes back to the 1980's in England under the Thatcher government. But I suppose that is a whole different debate for another day.
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Post by WettCoast on Jan 29, 2016 11:06:09 GMT -8
While I generally concede to the rest of your post you and I both know that this is not the case: We are the outlier and Fiji is the standard. Privatization goes back to the 1980's in England under the Thatcher government. But I suppose that is a whole different debate for another day. If you think about it, BC had mostly 'privatization' before 1960 & the creation of BC Ferries. There were exceptions as some services were operated by CN, for example. Washington State had the same experience except that 'publicization' occurred nine years earlier in 1951. northwesterner meant, I think, that Fiji is the 'standard' in terms of ferries there being privately operated as is the case in most countries. We (BC, Washington State & Alaska) are the 'outlier' as our ferries are publicly operated, which is not common in most of the world. Now, there is another whole debate about whether BC Ferries are public or private. I have had people swear up & down (to me) on a stack of holy books that BC Ferry Services is in fact a 'private' company. I have not bought into that since day 1 of so-called privatization in 2003.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jan 30, 2016 19:44:16 GMT -8
On our WCFF Facebook page, I've shared a video from Mr. Andrew Barry, who was aboard the Chilliwack for her trip from Canada to Fiji.
He posts them to the Facebook group "BC Nautical History"
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,175
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Post by Neil on Feb 4, 2016 22:30:16 GMT -8
A nice little footnote to the 'Chilliwack's departure is from the latest edition of Western Mariner magazine, which reports that when she left Deas on her long voyage south, she sounded her horn, and was saluted in turn by her sisters in the berths. Was anyone present who can confirm this?
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Mayne
Voyager
I come from a long line of sinners like me
Posts: 289
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Post by Mayne on Feb 4, 2016 23:00:09 GMT -8
A nice little footnote to the ' Chilliwack's departure is from the latest edition of Western Mariner magazine, which reports that when she left Deas on her long voyage south, she sounded her horn, and was saluted in turn by her sisters in the berths. Was anyone present who can confirm this? Yes I can confirm, as the Chilliwack past the other ships in deas the New west was blasting her horn as well as the Wack.
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Koastal Karl
Voyager
Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
Posts: 7,747
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Post by Koastal Karl on Feb 21, 2016 11:45:10 GMT -8
Just FYI a category 5 cyclone just hit Fiji a few days ago ! The caption was deadly cyclone hits Fiji islands so hoping everyone is ok and the ex be ferries there have not been blown away!
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Post by Ferryman on Jun 7, 2017 20:32:48 GMT -8
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Post by pacificcat99 on Jun 5, 2019 13:28:52 GMT -8
Wonder how the former BCFS ships are holding up in Fiji? Look at all the exterior rust on the former Queen of Chilliwack (Now Lomavati Princess III) fijisun.com.fj/2019/01/23/lomaiviti-princess-iii-back-in-operation/A quick google search of Lomavati Princess does show articles though that people are able to move around the Fijian Islands much more than before and people seem to be happy with their ferry service
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Post by Starsteward on Jun 6, 2019 10:35:03 GMT -8
Wonder how the former BCFS ships are holding up in Fiji? Look at all the exterior rust on the former Queen of Chilliwack (Now Lomavati Princess III) fijisun.com.fj/2019/01/23/lomaiviti-princess-iii-back-in-operation/A quick google search of Lomavati Princess does show articles though that people are able to move around the Fijian Islands much more than before and people seem to be happy with their ferry service If there are any able-bodied retirees amoungst our forum membership, perhaps one might consider contacting Goundar Shipping about the possibilities of doing a 6 or 12 month contract with the company. The company might even be willing to cover ones' airfare to Fiji seeing as how there appears to be a problem retaining reliable crew for the vessels. Yes, ok, just a 'what-if' thought on my part but maybe worth a second thought or two?
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,175
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Post by Neil on Jun 6, 2019 20:13:50 GMT -8
Wonder how the former BCFS ships are holding up in Fiji? Look at all the exterior rust on the former Queen of Chilliwack (Now Lomavati Princess III) fijisun.com.fj/2019/01/23/lomaiviti-princess-iii-back-in-operation/A quick google search of Lomavati Princess does show articles though that people are able to move around the Fijian Islands much more than before and people seem to be happy with their ferry service If there are any able-bodied retirees amoungst our forum membership, perhaps one might consider contacting Goundar Shipping about the possibilities of doing a 6 or 12 month contract with the company. The company might even be willing to cover ones' airfare to Fiji seeing as how there appears to be a problem retaining reliable crew for the vessels. Yes, ok, just a 'what-if' thought on my part but maybe worth a second thought or two? One small point... although Goundar laments the lack of motivated seamen, we don't know what he's paying people...
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Thor's Echo
Oiler (New Member)
Please, please, do not Pugmark me.
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Post by Thor's Echo on Nov 17, 2019 17:33:24 GMT -8
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Post by pacificcat99 on Nov 17, 2019 22:45:02 GMT -8
Thanks for posting that thorsecho. Pretty cool pic and glad to see they are holding up okay.
I guess Goundar shipping is doing well as they have purchased many more ships recently (I think from Korea and Japan).
I wonder how they are doing maintenance wise with these oldies (especially the Rupert and Nanny)
Has anyone here contemplated going to Fiji and riding on the old BC Ferries? (was just curious as have been contemplating it myself for the experience)
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Post by dofd on Nov 18, 2019 23:09:30 GMT -8
Thanks for posting that thorsecho. Pretty cool pic and glad to see they are holding up okay. I guess Goundar shipping is doing well as they have purchased many more ships recently (I think from Korea and Japan). I wonder how they are doing maintenance wise with these oldies (especially the Rupert and Nanny) Has anyone here contemplated going to Fiji and riding on the old BC Ferries? (was just curious as have been contemplating it myself for the experience) I read somewhere, I thought on this forum, that the BC ships (maybe not the Rupert) where to get phased out with new ferries. When I say new, I mean the 80's. Those Korea and Japan boats might be the death sentence of them. Or maybe Goundar Shipping is growing................................News at 11.
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Post by Ferryman on Jun 13, 2020 13:38:07 GMT -8
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Post by pacificcat99 on Jun 13, 2020 20:06:35 GMT -8
The article states that both the LMV Princess 3 (Ex Queen of Chilliwack) and LMV 5 (Ex Queen of Nanaimo) have both been sold for scrap. Guess the QPR is the last survivor at the moment. Guessing they will be heading to Alang or another scrapyard in India/Bangladesh as I don't see these being sailed back to Ensenada.
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Post by Departure Bay on Apr 2, 2021 8:55:07 GMT -8
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Post by pacificcat99 on Apr 2, 2021 9:37:45 GMT -8
I cant seem to access the article you posted. I seem to be getting robot pop-ups. Do you think you could post the text in the chat?
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,175
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Post by Neil on Apr 2, 2021 10:32:29 GMT -8
I cant seem to access the article you posted. I seem to be getting robot pop-ups. Do you think you could post the text in the chat? My anti-virus told me that link was dangerous... I read the article on another site.
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Post by Departure Bay on Apr 2, 2021 11:23:57 GMT -8
I cant seem to access the article you posted. I seem to be getting robot pop-ups. Do you think you could post the text in the chat? My anti-virus told me that link was dangerous... I read the article on another site. I just edited my post to link to the original press release, which seems to be from a much more reputable site.
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