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Post by Scott on Sept 7, 2009 8:07:35 GMT -8
www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/09/07/philippine-ferry-survivor007.htmlPhilippine ferry survivor rescued after 30 hours in seaLast Updated: Monday, September 7, 2009 | 11:06 AM ET Comments0Recommend6 CBC News Passengers hang on to the rear, or stern, port side of the listing Superferry 9 off Zamboanga del Norte province, in the southern Philippines, on Sunday.Passengers hang on to the rear, or stern, port side of the listing Superferry 9 off Zamboanga del Norte province, in the southern Philippines, on Sunday. (Philippine navy/Associated Press) A woman who drifted for about 30 hours at sea after the Philippine ferry she was travelling in sunk was plucked to safety Monday, an air force helicopter official said in Manila. Rear Admiral Alex Pama called the rescue of housewife Lita Casumlum, 39, "a miracle." She was found bobbing with a life jacket about 13 kilometres from where the Superferry 9 sank Sunday off southern Zamboanga del Norte province after listing for about six hours. Nearly 1,000 other passengers were rescued, including Canadian tourist Jeffrey Predchuz. Pama said a massive air, land and sea search will continue for the remaining, lone missing passenger. The ship began to severely list shortly before dawn, jolting passengers out of their sleep. Predchuz, 47, said there was no warning of any trouble. The captain, who was among the survivors, ordered passengers to abandon ship as the vessel turned on its side. Most of the nearly 1,000 people who were on board made it to safety, but officials said at least nine people are dead and more than 30 were initially missing. Rescuers transferred 926 of 968 passengers and crew members to two nearby commercial ships, a navy gunboat and a fishing boat, coast guard chief Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said. Some people panicked and leaped into the dark sea as the 6,600-tonne ferry tipped, a witness said. The cause of the sinking was not clear. There were reports the vessel listed to starboard because of a hole in the hull, the National Disaster Co-ordinating Council said. The coast guard says it has deployed a special containment ship for any possible oil spill from the vessel. With files from The Associated Press ----------------------------------------------------- Superferry actually has a decent website and updates of the "Passengers Accounted For" and "Crew Accounted For". www.superferry.com.ph/
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Post by Scott on Sept 2, 2009 21:52:01 GMT -8
A couple Queen of Nanaimo pics for consideration:
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Post by Scott on Sept 2, 2009 21:08:57 GMT -8
I agree... I always thought the PacifiCats were really nice looking ships from the outside. They had nice lines... in contrast to the Coastals.
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Post by Scott on Aug 31, 2009 20:48:35 GMT -8
This is embarrassing for BC Ferries.. it's been down for over 9 hours now as far as I can tell. Current conditions is still up, but reservations doesn't work.
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Post by Scott on Aug 27, 2009 21:11:28 GMT -8
Fulford Harbour, SSI So, Mike, which one of these was your hotel?
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Post by Scott on Aug 26, 2009 21:07:10 GMT -8
The Dockwise website says there are 3 sister ships to the SWIFT. So I assume we will not be waiting for the SWIFT to make a return trip before the next PacifiCat leaves? Does anyone know for sure?
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Post by Scott on Aug 22, 2009 19:47:45 GMT -8
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Post by Scott on Aug 21, 2009 17:44:49 GMT -8
In the meantime, here's 1 piece of news: - BCFS is considering doing an application to the Ferry Commissioner to allow a fare-increase to help offset the extra operating costs resulting from the BC HST tax. Oh, wonderful. If you believe that BC Ferries is still a puppet of the provincial government, this whole idea becomes laughable.
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Post by Scott on Aug 20, 2009 21:32:59 GMT -8
I wonder what the timeline would be for the PacifiCat being towed to Deep Cove? Does anyone know? And what would be a good estimate of a timeline for the Swift sailing under either of the North Shore bridges? Probably about the same time as the RCMP Musical Ride at the PNE that I've promised to take my girls to;) Oh well, there are two more.
I'm not exactly sure where they will do this proceedure, but might there also be a view from Burnaby Mountain? It would be fairly distant, but there is a good view up Indian Arm from the park near Horizons Restaurant.
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Post by Scott on Aug 19, 2009 20:29:28 GMT -8
Does anyone know where exactly the Queen of Tsawwassen is moored? I didn't think she was as close as the Northern Gulf Islands.
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Post by Scott on Aug 19, 2009 18:02:10 GMT -8
Good read, San Mateo. Didn't know that could be done... how far south of Seattle can one go by public transit?
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Post by Scott on Aug 18, 2009 18:02:38 GMT -8
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Post by Scott on Aug 17, 2009 20:56:40 GMT -8
I heard there were up to 2 hour waits for people to get on the RAV line today - emphasizing the fact that it's carrying capacity it actually lower than Skytrain. I also read in one of the many news articles that there are long stretches where there is only one track, and not two - is this really true??? They dug that huge hole all the way up Cambie and there's only one track down there??? After all the money spent and trouble caused by building this thing, I sure hope it doesn't suffer from lack of capacity right from the start. I know there were A LOT of people there today, but it seems there are some questions being raised already.
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Post by Scott on Aug 16, 2009 13:09:13 GMT -8
I did a drive-by yesterday on the way out to Steveston. Not sure of the berth numbers, but the Queen of Saanich, Queen of Vancouver, Queen of Prince Rupert are all still there along with the Tenaka and Klitsa.
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Post by Scott on Aug 13, 2009 18:17:22 GMT -8
Tonight, around 6:00pm, Nanaimo was full of thunder, which was coming from every direction. This was because the Snowbirds were in town, and put on a show for everyone to see. Nice pictures, Chris. That's a great location for the show they put on - other than the traffic problems they create;) Is that an annual event?
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Post by Scott on Aug 12, 2009 22:51:53 GMT -8
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Post by Scott on Aug 10, 2009 16:17:21 GMT -8
Come to think about it, did they have trans fats in them to where they had to rework the making of them in order to comply with new BC Health codes for 0 trans fats? Oh great, I hope they don't end up tasting like low-fat, no-sugar, granola bars.
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Post by Scott on Aug 10, 2009 16:14:14 GMT -8
Wonder how many of you ferry nuts are going to be found on board on the first day of service? ;D Quite a few! Yeah, I would. Except Translink seems to like to open their new things on Monday afternoons (RAV) and close their things on Friday afternoons (Albion ferry) Can't please everyone I guess... but makes it harder for the average worker.
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Post by Scott on Aug 8, 2009 22:28:22 GMT -8
I wouldn't argue what you have found regarding the Needles ferry, but I really doubt Transport Canada would let BC Ferries get away with a cable-ferry not being classified as a boat. You still have the same (or very similar) safety issues whether it's a cable ferry or a conventional ferry.
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Post by Scott on Aug 7, 2009 19:40:15 GMT -8
Does anyone know the reasoning around why a cable ferry needs fewer crew than a conventional vessel? I thought the biggest reason for crew was to be there in case of emergency. I suppose you might be able to lose one person from the engine room?
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Post by Scott on Aug 7, 2009 19:33:14 GMT -8
Why would she need to be towed?
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Post by Scott on Aug 6, 2009 20:44:04 GMT -8
Quote from Ms. Montgomery communities.canada.com/theprovince/blogs/onthewaterfront/archive/2009/07/27/the-fast-ferry-sale-part-one.aspxThink about it: Decent gearboxes. Decent Gen Sets with low hours. Twelve high-speed, military-grade engines that aren't being made any more but are still valuable in lots of ways. Four of them are virtually new. All are in working order. Suddenly, the deal makes sense. The deal, in fact, looks brilliant. Engines are really expensive, and given the hours on them, these are as near to new as you can get. Why, if the information we have heard about the sale is true, would the buyer be transporting the entire ships to Abu Dhabi via deep-sea lift vessels if they were just bought for the engines and parts? That's way too much expense for parts, isn't it? P.S. I looked up a fairly famous heavy-lift operation from the year 2000 when the Blue Marlin carried the USS Cole from the Middle East to the USA. At least one source put the contract for that operation at US$4.5 million. That was 9 years ago, albeit for a larger ship.
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Post by Scott on Aug 6, 2009 20:36:39 GMT -8
They needed to realize that it was supposed to be more like an airplane than the old familiar ferry riding experiences. Good points, Flugel. However we were told that this was the price to pay for a quicker trip ("more like an airplane")... and in most cases, it was not a quicker trip, or only very barely.
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Post by Scott on Aug 4, 2009 18:28:23 GMT -8
Wikipedia has a list of cable ferries around the world, almost exclusively in freshwater (rivers/lakes). However, there is one in England, the Sandbanks ferry: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandbanks_FerryIf you read it, you'll see that overall, it has a good safety record, but has had some accidents. I don't mean to make too much of a few accidents, but it does raise the issue of safety. Does an ocean crossing pose more risks than a lake or river crossing? It would probably encounter heavier seas. The Sandbanks ferry also operates in an area of heavy marine traffic and there have been no issues (other than collisions) - so I assume that is a non-issue. Safety might be an issue here as it may be more difficult for a cable ferry to take action to avoid a collision with another vessel (or with a log floating in the water). Another thing to consider, which probably wouldn't be considered by BC Ferries, is that a cable ferry won't be able to respond to marine emergencies in the area as it has in the past.
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Post by Scott on Aug 4, 2009 18:07:07 GMT -8
I was looking through a friend's facebook photos of his trip to Malaysia, and he had a nice picture of a Penang ferry. The reason I found it so interesting was that these ferries actually have two car decks like ours. I'll see if I can post some photos later, but here's a link to Wikipedia which has some photos of the ferries. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penang_Ferry_Service
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