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Post by Low Light Mike on Dec 31, 2008 16:50:13 GMT -8
Not ferry related, but it is BC and this is a good place for this 1-off item: --------------------------- www.qciobserver.com/Article.aspx?Id=3650Christmas Eve fire destroys Port barge The 83-year-old sternwheeler, known as the Kumdis River Lodge, was destroyed by fire on Christmas Eve. Port Clements firemen received the call at 10:30 am on Dec. 24. Fire chief Craig Beachy says smoke was visible from the town's small craft harbour and Port Clements resident Dave Unsworth saw it from there. "He saw the smoke coming from around the corner of the bay," says Mr. Beachy. At that point no one knew what was on fire. Fifteen members responded, but by the time the firemen got to the site at the end of Port's Industrial Road, the boat was engulfed by an orange glow. "It was a fireball," says Mr. Beachy. The firefighters, who were on site until 4:30 pm, could only access one side of the vessel, which sat in the water of Kumdis Bay, making it difficult to beat the fire. They were able to save the dock and Mr. Beachy says two firefighters returned to the site and stayed until 10:30 pm to ensure the dock didn't catch fire from any of the wreckage. There were four 100-pound propane tanks and one stove oil tank aboard the boat, but none of the contaminants got into the water, he says. "The hull never burned through." Mr. Beachy says the fire must have been going for quite some time before they arrived. The cause is undetermined but insurance inspectors were due on site Dec. 30. Langara Fishing Adventures used the barge as staff accommodations and an occasional dining room. The fire will not affect the Kumdis River Lodge guest accommodations, as these are in separate buildings on shore. ====================== Here's something I found on Google re this old ship: images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.michaelkluckner.com/Site%2520images/bciw10qckumdislodge.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.michaelkluckner.com/bciw10qckumdis.html&usg=__fjuDnFUpGds7JBKblCqy7XB522Q=&h=434&w=601&sz=38&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=D0-3Hn34OY39JM:&tbnh=97&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522Kumdis%2BRiver%2BLodge%2522%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
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Mill Bay
Voyager
Long Suffering Bosun
Posts: 2,886
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Post by Mill Bay on Dec 31, 2008 18:05:37 GMT -8
Two articles whose headlines nicely illustrate the principal of how things don't always work at as nicely as you would like them too...
Warm weather may increase ferry traffic Difficult access into terminals could have decreased ridership
Darrell Bellaart, The Daily News Published: Monday, December 29, 2008
Warmer temperatures are expected to boost travel between the Island and the mainland, after heavy snowfall that B.C. Ferries is blaming an apparent slump in ferry traffic in the first half of the Christmas holiday period.
B.C. Ferries cut ferry fares over the holidays in an effort to bolster falling ferry traffic numbers, but early indications are it didn't help.
No numbers are expected until early this week, but B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall said travel appeared down so far.
[Article truncated]
Compare those expectations with yesterday's conditions: It seems that the warmer weather may come with a fare of its own.
High winds spark BC Ferry cancellations
Updated: Tue Dec. 30 2008 15:03:31
ctvbc.ca
High winds along British Columbia's south coast have prompted BC Ferries to cancel one round-trip sailing from the B.C. mailand to Vancouver Island.
The cancellation of the 11:00 a.m sailing from Tsawwassen, and the 1:00 p.m. return trip from Swartz Bay is already leading to congestion on the Tsawwassen ferry terminal.
BC Ferries has confirmed that the Spirit of BC cancellation is due to winds, and also due to the fact that the ship continues to operate on only three of its four engines.
If the windy weather continues, more cancellations from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay are expected.
As a result, ferry passengers are advised to check the BC Ferries website.
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Post by DENelson83 on Jan 4, 2009 11:06:35 GMT -8
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Post by Ferryman on Jan 5, 2009 21:39:34 GMT -8
Uh oh, looks like there's going to be another outrage......TC is making BCF basically chop passenger amounts in half on most of the minor vessels, and still use the same amount of crew. www.qciobserver.com/Article.aspx?Id=3654A storm is brewing with the media folks. Brace yourself...
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Post by electrotech on Jan 5, 2009 21:54:51 GMT -8
Uh oh, looks like there's going to be another outrage......TC is making BCF basically chop passenger amounts in half on most of the minor vessels, and still use the same amount of crew. www.qciobserver.com/Article.aspx?Id=3654A storm is brewing with the media folks. Brace yourself... I'm curious what the crew sizes are like on other minor vessels... the Howe Sound Queen (Crofton/Vesuvius) has a crew of 6.
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Post by Dane on Jan 5, 2009 22:35:04 GMT -8
Uh oh, looks like there's going to be another outrage......TC is making BCF basically chop passenger amounts in half on most of the minor vessels, and still use the same amount of crew. www.qciobserver.com/Article.aspx?Id=3654A storm is brewing with the media folks. Brace yourself... This is what I was talking about on our Queen of Van trip. The Skeena Queen has also had a large reduction in passenger capacity, effectively making her lowest license her highest license. Larger vessels shouldn't be effected except the Queen of Vancouver. I am not sure where the definition of "minor vessel" starts though. I'll inquire and see if the Cap and Cumb were effected. I have the license numbers of a few other ships so maybe if some members go aboard they can check it out.
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Post by Dane on Jan 5, 2009 22:50:59 GMT -8
Most are as of sometime in December 2008.
Powell River Class - A – 393 / 7
Coastal Class - A – 1571 / 33, B – 1177 / 27, C 881 / 23, D – 0 / 12
C Class - A – 1460 / 34, B – 1265 / 29, C – 841 / 23, D – 0 / 12
Capilano Class - A – 450 / 12, B – 400 / 10
Klitsa - A – 195 / 6
Queen of Nanaimo - A – 977 / 27, B – 750 / 22, C – 584 / 20, D 450 / 19, E – 0 / 11
Queen of Vancouver - A – 1272 / 34, B – 1163 / 31, C 767 / 27, D – 0 / 12
Quinsam - A – 400 / 7
Skeena Queen - A – 592 / 8, B – 0 / 6 * I think she's around 350 ish right now
Spirit Class - A – 2052 / 48, B – 1532 / 40, C – 0 / 15
Tenaka - A – 244 / 8 B – 150 / 6
My understanding, from BC Ferries itself, is that all major vessels that have had their marine evacuation systems updated since privatization are safe. Some minor vessels were also updated, I am unsure if these are effected by the new changes or not?
BC Ferries has been in this kind of fight before, when the Kuper went into service they wanted her to have something like 12 crew members... I don't know what number they came out with but it certainly wasn't 12.
For interest's sake.... Queen of Esquimalt - A – 1272 / 34, B – 1163 / 31, C 767 / 27, D – 0 / 12 Queen of Saanich - AA – 1672 / 36, A 1308 / 34, B – 1163 / 31, C 767 / 27, D – 450 / 23, E – 0 / 12 Sidney Class - A – 640 / 25, B – 590 / 22, C – 487 / 19, D – 0 / 10 Queen of the North - A – 650 / 50, B – 474 / 40, C – 288 / 34, D – 288 / 30, E – 0 / 23 (Repositioning in restricted waters), F – 0 / 12
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Post by kerryssi on Jan 6, 2009 18:53:13 GMT -8
TC is finally beginning to enforce their own regulations. There is a crew/passenger ratio for every vessel to handle emergencies. Essentially, the more crew, the more passengers. BC Ferries has long been able to get exemptions on crew size. For example, the HSQ has always sailed with one crew member short and TC has allowed BC Ferries to slide it past. BC Ferries has the option of increasing the crew to allow more passengers or reducing the passenger load to the crew level. With 6 crew on the HSQ the allowable passenger load is 0.
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Post by kerryssi on Jan 6, 2009 19:07:00 GMT -8
Skeena- A license....2 more crew and 600 passengers B license....1 more crew and 450 passengers C License...Same crew and 300 passengers
HSQ A license....2 more crew and 300 passengers B license....1 more crew and 150 passengers C license....Same crew and no passengers.
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Post by Ferryman on Jan 6, 2009 19:46:22 GMT -8
Hey this just might be good news for us yet-to-be Deckhands this summer ;D
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Post by ferrytraveller on Jan 6, 2009 19:59:55 GMT -8
Bowen Queen increased by 1 to a crew of 8
Kuper had a reduction of passengers from 295 to 145 with existing crew. On the new Muster List it shows B License. No mention of an A License
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Post by ferrytraveller on Jan 6, 2009 20:11:12 GMT -8
New Transport Canada Regulations for BC Ferries: Crew counts:
Skeena - A license....2 more crew, total crew 9 and 600 passengers B license....1 more crew, total crew 8 and 450 passengers C License...Same crew, total crew 7 and 300 passengers
HSQ A license....2 more crew, total crew 8 and 300 passengers B license....1 more crew, total crew 7 and 150 passengers C license....Same crew, total crew 6 and no passengers.
Bowen Queen - A license... 1 more crew, total crew 8 and 393 passengers
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Post by kerryssi on Jan 6, 2009 20:39:27 GMT -8
Ferryman...."What fools these mortals be!"
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Post by Dane on Jan 6, 2009 23:20:42 GMT -8
Skeena - A license....2 more crew, total crew 9 and 600 passengers B license....1 more crew, total crew 8 and 450 passengers C License...Same crew, total crew 7 and 300 passengers Are these the new numbers? As of 19 Dec she had no C License (her 0 pax was the B, as I posted above).
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jan 14, 2009 9:08:59 GMT -8
Uh oh, looks like there's going to be another outrage......TC is making BCF basically chop passenger amounts in half on most of the minor vessels, and still use the same amount of crew. Here's another story from the QCI newspaper: The islanders are already forcasting the impacts of the reduced capacity. www.qciobserver.com/Article.aspx?Id=3663
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jan 14, 2009 9:12:48 GMT -8
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Nick
Voyager
Chief Engineer - Queen of Richmond
Posts: 2,078
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Post by Nick on Jan 14, 2009 9:49:59 GMT -8
Compared to the quality of the articles The Tyee published about the Coastals, this one's a significant improvement.
It's true that BCF knew this was coming. I remember hearing mention about it back in 2007, although I had no idea the cuts would be this significant.
I'm curious how they figure adding one crew member will cost them $200,000/yr. Last I checked, a deckhand is lucky to make 1/4 of that. Even counting in the cost of benefits, employee HR administration, training etc. I can't see it costing them that much money.
I'd also like to know what the position that needs to be filled is. As far as I know, the current crew on the K-class consists of a Master, mate, engineer, and deckhand. I'm assuming the extra crew member can be a deckhand, but could it be an oiler/ERA? Either way, they are on a similar pay scale, so it wouldn't affect the cost that much.
I guess this goes back to the same age-old question. Should BCF be concentrating on making a profit, or providing an essential service to the people of British Columbia? We all know what their current mandate is, but is that right? We know there isn't enough traffic on the coast to do both, at least on any of the non-mainline runs.
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Post by ferryrider42 on Jan 14, 2009 20:09:30 GMT -8
B.C. Ferries to beef up security© Copyright (c) The ProvinceB.C. Ferries will beef up security, courtesy of a $5.6-million grant from the federal government. The money will go to surveillance equipment and communication devices like walkie-talkies and ship-to-shore radio. There will also be more gates, fencing and training for security personnel. In total, B.C. has received $45 million out of a Canada-wide $115 million Marine Security Contribution Program, said North Vancouver Conservative MP Andrew Saxton. The current $5.6 million will be split between B.C. Ferries and the Coast Mountain Bus Company, which will use it for improvements around the SeaBus. B.C. Ferries gets the majority of the cash, including about $3 million for improvements in Nanaimo and $2.4 million for Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver. "Our government is acting to ensure the Canadian transportation system, such as the ferry service in B.C., is safe, secure and efficient," said Saxton. www.theprovince.com/Ferries+beef+security/1174514/story.html=============== There is a place for reader comments as well... this one made me chuckle: By:Concerned... "So you mean I won't be able to wander freely through an unmanned, open 'gate' to get my Troll's fish 'n' chips? p.s. I'm glad they are getting the newest technology necessary to protect our citizens...you know...'walkie-talkies and ship to shore radio'. I hope they earmark some of it for one of those telegraph machines I hear are all the rage."
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Post by Northern Exploration on Jan 15, 2009 11:04:05 GMT -8
B.C. Ferries to beef up security© Copyright (c) The ProvinceB.C. Ferries will beef up security, courtesy of a $5.6-million grant from the federal government. The money will go to surveillance equipment and communication devices like walkie-talkies and ship-to-shore radio. There will also be more gates, fencing and training for security personnel. In total, B.C. has received $45 million out of a Canada-wide $115 million Marine Security Contribution Program, said North Vancouver Conservative MP Andrew Saxton. The current $5.6 million will be split between B.C. Ferries and the Coast Mountain Bus Company, which will use it for improvements around the SeaBus. B.C. Ferries gets the majority of the cash, including about $3 million for improvements in Nanaimo and $2.4 million for Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver. "Our government is acting to ensure the Canadian transportation system, such as the ferry service in B.C., is safe, secure and efficient," said Saxton. www.theprovince.com/Ferries+beef+security/1174514/story.html=============== There is a place for reader comments as well... this one made me chuckle: By:Concerned... "So you mean I won't be able to wander freely through an unmanned, open 'gate' to get my Troll's fish 'n' chips? p.s. I'm glad they are getting the newest technology necessary to protect our citizens...you know...'walkie-talkies and ship to shore radio'. I hope they earmark some of it for one of those telegraph machines I hear are all the rage." Grrr. Missing a ferry or a sailing wait meant Trolls everytime. I think we need to lobby for a window in the fence where Trolls can bring delivery and pass through the order.
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Post by Hardy on Jan 22, 2009 4:49:14 GMT -8
By:Concerned... "So you mean I won't be able to wander freely through an unmanned, open 'gate' to get my Troll's fish 'n' chips?" Grrr. Missing a ferry or a sailing wait meant Trolls everytime. I think we need to lobby for a window in the fence where Trolls can bring delivery and pass through the order. All the tickets that are printed at the time of fare payment have barcodes on them; should be no problem to install a reader of sorts at that gate and have it "scan" those barcoded tickets outbound and inbound and control access to Horseshoe Bay Village in that manner. From a tourist/economic point of view, I cannot see them completely doing away with access directly from the village to the terminal.
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Post by kerryssi on Jan 24, 2009 11:23:39 GMT -8
On the back of the ticket there is also a "password" which changes every day.
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Post by Ferryman on Jan 26, 2009 20:45:49 GMT -8
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Post by johnnytindale on Jan 27, 2009 21:54:39 GMT -8
While I generally give CFAX thumbs up for their local news coverage, when will they quit misspelling BCFS spokesperson Deborah Marshall's name (as "Debra")? I know it's a minor issue, but it is a bit annoying (especially for us English maniacs out there ;D).
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Post by EGfleet on Jan 28, 2009 18:14:24 GMT -8
I don't think this has been posted yet...
BC Ferries need armed guards: Terrorism expert Dustin Walker, Nanaimo Daily News Published: Wednesday, January 28, 2009
NANAIMO, B.C. - BC Ferries needs an armed peace officer on vessels travelling major routes to protect the ships from attack, said a terrorism expert.
John Thompson, an analyst with the Toronto-based Mackenzie Institute, said that $5.6 million announced by the federal government earlier this month to beef up security at BC Ferries will do little to prevent an organized attack by terrorists or other assailants.
The federal money will likely be used to install perimeter fencing at the ferry terminals, more television monitors and increased employee training in security measures, BC Ferries said.
"If they're just talking about new cameras, new lights and new passive defences I don't think much of it," said Thompson, who has researched security on BC Ferries vessels "from a bad guy's point of view."
Thompson said these measures will help deter more routine criminal behaviour such as vandalism, but more security is needed in areas such as the bridge to deal with the rare event of a terrorist attack.
"That's the one nerve centre where there should be an armed person," he said, adding many ferries in the U.S., such as those in the harbour of New York City, have armed peace officers onboard.
Thompson also said that vital areas such as the bridge and engine rooms aren't properly secured. He also thinks more surveillance is needed below decks.
"It didn't take much for me to disappear out of sight and go wandering around where I wanted to."
BC Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall said the company is already working to enhance security in those areas. That work will continue once BC Ferries finds out exactly which security projects will gain funding from the federal government.
Marshall pointed out that the company has a strong working relationship with the RCMP and that costs of having a police officer onboard must be weighed against the risks.
"It would certainly be an additional cost, I think we have to weigh the risks. We have over 500 sailings per day throughout the fleet and the majority of those go just fine," she said.
BC Ferries announced last November that it was adding patrols of bomb-sniffing dogs at its terminals after a number of bomb threats disrupted service in recent years. Thompson said such measures are needed and improves security significantly.
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Post by Dane on Jan 28, 2009 23:22:44 GMT -8
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
My educated opinion.
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Just to add - I think my favourite part of the whole article is the premise that armed security guards will reduce crimes like vandalism. Yeah.... sure..... right. While I am not even sure this is an issue at BCFS, I am sure the large crew level helps with the matter.
Guns don't solve problems.
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