Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2016 16:53:25 GMT -8
Someone just posted on Twitter a photo of Spirit of BC leaving Seaspan Drydock, presumably today: Anyone know if it's related to the mid-life upgrade selection process? Nope, it was her annual refit & quadrennial drydocking (usually). It is rare for the Spirits to be drydocked in Vancouver, they usually go to Esquimalt. The SOBC's next drydocking will be during her MLU in the fall of 2018.
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Post by Dane on Feb 17, 2016 0:35:01 GMT -8
correct me if I'm mistaken, but BCF could get by with using 2 Coastals, 1 Spirit and the New West on Route 1 and the Cowichan, Oak Bay and Coquitlam on Route 2 with the Coquitlam helping out on Route 3 during Christmas I'm normally not one for speculative forward looking posts about unconfirmed projects, but in the event a Spirit was unavailable for peak periods for MLU I would hope that the New West went in for the CI, and send the CI to Route 1 to better utilize available capacity. Routes 2 & 3 would be hammered on the high peak travel times sharing one ship where there's previously been two. But, that's happened before for the C class MLUs.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2016 19:13:33 GMT -8
Thanksgiving & May long weekend has always been one ship on 2 & 3 doing the triangle...
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Post by Dane on Feb 20, 2016 8:33:49 GMT -8
But not the more substantial peaks that could well be in the zone of the Spirit MLUs particularly if they're sailing half way around the world!
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Post by Low Light Mike on Feb 26, 2016 19:26:48 GMT -8
MLU news, from the 3rd quarter Management's Discussion and Analysis report (released February 26, 2016):
Translation: - there was no action because all the 3 shipyard bids were too expensive. So BCFS had to get permission from the Commissioner for the higher price.
Now that the higher price is approved, BCFS can award the contract.
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Another few sentences found in that report:
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2016 0:24:05 GMT -8
MLU news, from the 3rd quarter Management's Discussion and Analysis report (released February 26, 2016): Translation: - there was no action because all the 3 shipyard bids were too expensive. So BCFS had to get permission from the Commissioner for the higher price. Now that the higher price is approved, BCFS can award the contract. That happens, when you invite shipyards from around the world to bid on your home turf? Has that ever occurred in BC Ferries' history before?? Interesting that there is no solid deadline for the contract being signed, but it sounds like the first MLU will be done on time. Though thanks for posting a summary of the Fourth Quarter reports, Mr. Horn. I pretty much sailed past the release
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Post by Dane on Mar 24, 2016 8:41:35 GMT -8
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Post by Low Light Mike on Mar 24, 2016 8:52:51 GMT -8
haha, I had to read that a few times to get what you were meaning. Of course, we already know that the Polish Yard is building the Salish class, but now we know that the same Polish yard is going to do the Spirit MLU projects. Here's the full press release:
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Post by Low Light Mike on Mar 24, 2016 8:55:44 GMT -8
I will highlight this, which was news to me:
I knew that Vancouver Shipyard withdrew from the Salish Class project bids, but I didn't realize that Vancouver Shipyard also withdrew from the Spiritual MLU bids.
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Post by Mike C on Mar 24, 2016 10:05:24 GMT -8
Does anyone have any insight as to what the logistics that will be involved will look like? It seems like this will require a fairly significant effort/coordination on part of BCFS, and the potential seems greater for delays, which in turn makes the overall system losing a great amount of capacity for an extended period of time. This is obviously an armchair observation and I would definitely appreciate some insight on this.
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Post by WettCoast on Mar 24, 2016 10:25:05 GMT -8
Does anyone have any insight as to what the logistics that will be involved will look like? It seems like this will require a fairly significant effort/coordination on part of BCFS, and the potential seems greater for delays, which in turn makes the overall system losing a great amount of capacity for an extended period of time. This is obviously an armchair observation and I would definitely appreciate some insight on this. At the very least each vessel will be out of service for two or three months just to deliver them to & from Poland. How much actual 'yard time' will be required? Four months? Six months? We better hope that there are no significant incidents that knock another major vessel out of service for a long period of time during the period that one or the other Spirit is away.
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Post by WettCoast on Mar 24, 2016 13:38:43 GMT -8
Here is a very interesting quote from Shirley Bond, BC's Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour: She was, referring to the Seaspan agreement with the federal government for the construction of non-combat navy, coast guard and Fisheries and Oceans Canada vessels. Her reasoning apparently does NOT apply to the upkeep of BC Ferries' vessels. Note: this is quoted from a Seaspan press release. See also this press release from the BC Govt ...
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FNS
Voyager
The Empire Builder train of yesteryear in HO scale
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Post by FNS on Mar 24, 2016 15:00:48 GMT -8
It would be interesting if BCF still has two remaining (out of three) FSG wave breakers that were welded to an end of the Coastal Class ferries for their delivery voyages to BC? One of these was welded to the bow of the QUEEN OF ESQUIMALT and was most likely scrapped with the rest of that ferry in Mexico. BCF could use the remaining one or two aboard the Spirits for their trips to and from Poland.
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mrdot
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Post by mrdot on Mar 24, 2016 21:48:57 GMT -8
we here in the best place on earth. can look forward to some hi-end wall-mart greeter postings while our spirit upgrades go overseas, and this is no polish joke! mr.dot.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Mar 24, 2016 22:31:09 GMT -8
we here in the best place on earth. can look forward to some hi-end wall-mart greeter postings while our spirit upgrades go overseas, and this is no polish joke! mr.dot. Starting with the Coastals contract and continuing with this one, there seems to be a pattern of WMG expressing interest but not being there for the final bid. I'd like to know what the story is with regard to that.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Mar 25, 2016 6:44:53 GMT -8
Starting with the Coastals contract and continuing with this one, there seems to be a pattern of WMG expressing interest but not being there for the final bid. I'd like to know what the story is with regard to that. I suspect that BC Ferries is demanding strict timelines with harsh over-due penalties. And I suspect that the local shipyard, still in its new-life infancy and with a commitment (possibly hollow) from the Federal government tying its hands, is smart enough not to subject itself to that real financial risk. Who would want to deal with a demanding customer like BC Ferries for that refit job, unless you are a mature business, confident in your ability to meet any deadline and any set of specifications.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Mar 25, 2016 8:07:35 GMT -8
Quote from a Times Colonist story from today:
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Post by WettCoast on Mar 25, 2016 8:07:57 GMT -8
Starting with the Coastals contract and continuing with this one, there seems to be a pattern of WMG expressing interest but not being there for the final bid. I'd like to know what the story is with regard to that. I suspect that BC Ferries is demanding strict timelines with harsh over-due penalties. And I suspect that the local shipyard, still in its new-life infancy and with a commitment (possibly hollow) from the Federal government tying its hands, is smart enough not to subject itself to that real financial risk. Who would want to deal with a demanding customer like BC Ferries for that refit job, unless you are a mature business, confident in your ability to meet any deadline and any set of specifications. I have a strong hunch that you are right Mr. Horn. BCFS may well be setting criteria that makes it impossible for Seaspan (or any other local yard) to meet, hence the 'need' to go offshore. This is a first though. Now contracts for major maintenance/ upgrades are going offshore to join the contracts for new builds. I remember back a few decades to when we could do things here in BC; things like adding whole new car decks to major vessels. I refer to the lifting of the V's where two vessels per year were converted in back to back years. Those projects were at least as complex as these Spirit upgrades. Once upon a time we could do things here.
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Post by roeco on Mar 25, 2016 13:58:33 GMT -8
It could be quite possible that many west coast ship yards are busy with other contracts...That's good for the ship building industry in canada...I would tend to think if the Yard in Poland is willing to go by the contract BCF wants done...so be it,Im sure the penalties will be quite huge if they don't complete it on time ! The Salish vessels look like their gonna be quite spectacular...so if that tells u anything...I think the polish yard will do a Superior job on the Spirits! However they are gonna have to figure out the timeline of getting them over their...Id hate to have their fuel bill on the delivery voyage over their as its gonna be pricey! And yes they may have to be very creative in ship deployment! Maybe Poland can do it in the time frame BCF has stipultated including sailing time over to Poland! Agree with Mr Horn about the demands from BCF..plus .their probably are many shipyards that didn't even bid cause they knew they wouldn't have a chance in hell to meet BCF strict requirements! And Poland already has experience with LNG..!
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Post by timmyc on Mar 25, 2016 14:34:55 GMT -8
Perhaps Seaspan's last-minute withdrawal might have something to do as well with the Baynes Sound Connector issue? Possibly BCF and Seaspan coming away from that project with a bit of bitter taste in their mouths.
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Post by vancouverecho on Mar 25, 2016 15:16:18 GMT -8
Perhaps Seaspan's last-minute withdrawal might have something to do as well with the Baynes Sound Connector issue? Possibly BCF and Seaspan coming away from that project with a bit of bitter taste in their mouths. I don't think so, as the issues or perceived issues with the Baynes Sound Connector have little to do with Seaspan, and more to do with BC Ferries. I imagine that the issues that surrounded the Island Sky weighed in more on Seaspan, as the Island Sky is a much more complex ship that was delivered late and with a number of build quality issues; I believe Seaspan was exposed to a number of penalties levied by BC Ferries and some warranty work issues that resulted in trips back to Seaspan for rectifying.
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Post by Dane on Mar 25, 2016 16:12:35 GMT -8
With my limited knowledge I'd be inclined to agree that the Island Sky (and SeaBus) were tales of caution for Seaspan where quality issues and warranty issues were expensive and ongoing issues.
Not knowing the capabilities of the yards I'm also curious how prepared they'd be for natural gas work? That's a question not a statement as I honestly have no idea, but perhaps a variable in a complex time sensitive project.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Mar 26, 2016 11:18:24 GMT -8
Polish article on upgrade project here: H E R EHere is an English translation (done by me inputing into a translator website):
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Post by EGfleet on Mar 28, 2016 10:40:45 GMT -8
Not sure what, if anything, this has to do with what BCF is doing but it popped up in a Google news search and was kind of interesting.
Polish shipyard retained by B.C. Ferries came under suspicion last year in Estonia
by Charlie Smith on March 27th, 2016 at 1:51 PM The Spirit of British Columbia is one of two vessels that will be upgraded in Poland. B.C. Ferries has awarded a $140-million contract to a Polish shipbuilding company that was caught up in a controversy in the Republic of Estonia. Gdansk-based Remontowa Ship Repair Yard S.A. will perform midlife upgrades on two Spirit-class vessels, according to a March 24 B.C Ferries news release. The work will ensure that the Spirit of British Columbia and the Spirit of Vancouver Island can run on liquefied natural gas as well as diesel. The upgrades will also result in improvements to marine-evacuation systems, fire detection and protection, the public-address system, rescue boats, washrooms, and other areas. The shipyard is a member of the Remontowa Holding capital group, which also constructs new vessels. Last November, Poland-based Remontowa Shipbuilding rejected suspicions by Estonian prosecutors that two former members of its management team had paid a bribe to win a tender to build ferries for the Port of Tallinn. The company's spokesperson, Maria Bninska, told Baltic News Service that an Ernst & Young audit had "found no materials that would corroborate the suspicion". The Estonian Prosecutor General's Office filed suspicions and two members of the management board of state-owned Port of Tallinn were held in custody, according to a report last year on the Baltic Course website. The story was recently broken in B.C. by blogger Norm Farrell. According to B.C. Ferries, the Remontowa Ship Repair Yard works on 200 ships per year, making it one of the busiest facilities of its kind in Europe. "The shipyard has a strong record for delivering the required engineering and production capabilities for complex large scale conversions of projects on schedule," B.C. Ferries stated in its news release. "The company is well experienced and proven with LNG fuelled ships. All of these elements factored heavily into the decision of contract award." B.C. Ferries vice president of engineering Mark Wilson noted that in the last fiscal year, the Crown-owned company spent $118 million on diesel fuel. The two Spirit-class ships accounted for 16 percent of that, or nearly $19 million. www.straight.com/news/666426/polish-shipyard-retained-bc-ferries-came-under-suspicion-last-year-estonia
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Post by Low Light Mike on Mar 28, 2016 13:27:36 GMT -8
Total approved cost of the project, including supplemental project expenditures (ie. things like moving the ships to/from Poland), covering both of the Ships is $218.89 million. - in comparison, the original November 2014 approved total (both ships) was $173.07 million. Source from today: HERE
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