Marine Atlantic

[timo]

The reason for their scrapping is not only one - rather a combination of reasons.

First, the ships have asbestos, which is rather surprising for such new vessels, and for them to trade anywhere this should be removed.

Second, the layout. For their size, their capacity is poor. Partly this is caused by their below decks arrangement.

Third, rumours claimed their engines being rather worn.

Fourth, economical situation. The most logical place where they could have found use had been the Mediterranean. This year the African trade collapsed due to the chaotic situations in the North African countries, including Libya. The Greek ferry companies are struggling, and the Greece-Italy lines are really suffering due to falling numbers. This is because traffic that was built up in the 1990ies due to the collapse and wars in former Yugoslavia lead to freight needing to find a sea route. Now, the situation in the Balkan has normalized and freight again is returning to road routes.

Fifth. There are a lot of laid up vessels - and a lot of ships are being scrapped, as there is no place for them due to the economical situation. As some services are trying to get rid of fast catamarans and instead turning to conventional ferries, this could help - but as nobody wants a fast ferry anymore they have no chance of selling the current tonnage and investing in new.

[Nick]

Nov 2, 2011 1:37:56 GMT -8 markkarj said:

Do ships on Marine Atlantic's runs take more of a beating than those in BC waters? Given the age of some BC Ferries, the Caribou and Joseph and Clara Smallwood were retired seemingly quite early.

Yes, the ships out here on the Atlantic do take more of a beating than BC's ships. The closest thing we have is the Hecate Straight crossing, and even that doesn't compare to Cabot Straight. These ships have seen ice service, and get pounded in 5m seas ALL winter.


Photo credit goes to Don Merritt.

[mrdot]

:)yes, that's a good point you make on the very heavy pounding that marine atlantic vessels take on the long haul out to NFLD. QPR took quite a pounding on her service out to the charlottes, but nothing like the east coast! but it only seems like yesterday that this now scrapped pair were new! :'(mrdot.

[Nick]

For those interested... the Superfast IX, aka Atlantic Vision, sustained some damage to her bow ramp on her delivery voyage from Europe. This youtube video was shot by an officer on the bridge at the time.

[lmtengs]

Nov 24, 2011 16:15:45 GMT -8 Nick said:

For those interested... the Superfast IX, aka Atlantic Vision, sustained some damage to her bow ramp on her delivery voyage from Europe. This youtube video was shot by an officer on the bridge at the time.

That's crazy, Nick!

Doesn't it stun you all that I actually want to do this for a job when I grow up? ;D

[Nick]

Marine Atlantic put on an open house of the MV Highlanders in Sydney yesterday. Of course, you know I couldn't pass up an opportunity like that! Spent about 2 hours walking around the ship, and although the engine room wasn't open for tours, being from the Coast Guard College does have its perks around here.

So, some background information. Highlanders is one of 2 sisters on a 5 year lease from Stena Lines. She's 199 metres long, and has 3 full height car decks, one of which is partially open, and one of which is a "hold" style similar to the Northern Adventure (except this one can actually be used because it has proper access.). The two main decks are accessed by their own ramps, bow and stern, and the hold is accessed by deck 3, the main vehicle deck. She has around 90 cabins dedicated to crew, and about 60 available to public, as well as a cafeteria, buffet restaurant and some very nice lounge spaces.

It started when I saw this posted on the Marine Atlantic discussion group on Facebook:


So without further adieu, I give you the MV Highlanders, at the Sydney cruise ship terminal.




We walked on to the car deck via the pilot access door, which is about 2/3 of the way back from the bow. They had crew on the car deck checking ID for "security", and to welcome people aboard. They had the hold all opened up so we could see down as well. We are currently on deck 3, looking down to deck 2.






This is down on deck 2 looking back at the ramp to deck 3.


One of the downsides to having an open car deck: dealing with snow. We had over a foot of snow come down in the past few days, which all had to be cleared from the deck.


The cafeteria restaurant. One of the complaints I had with the Atlantic Vision is that there is nothing for food service in between a basic snack bar and a full buffet dinner. I was happy to see a cafeteria on these ships.


This is the main lounge area, at the back of the new accommodation block they added to the superstructure. Several big screen TVs, nice comfortable seats and a decent view will make this quite popular I think.




Builders model of the renovated ship.


Gift shop


I took this one for Dane. Marine Atlantic blew the doors off BCF for free food available during an open house.


And now we get to the interesting parts: The bridge


I didn't take many pictures on the bridge because I got caught up in conversation with the mate about the coast guard etc. Also, I really am not so interested with a bridge on a ship, since they all seem to look the same after a while. ;D

We managed to sweet talk them into giving us an engine room tour, even though it wasn't open to the public. I have to thank the 3rd engineer, who gave us a very thorough and detailed tour of all the engineering spaces.

MV Highlanders and MV Blue Puttees are powered by 2 9 cylinder MAN B&W engines, totaling about 30,000 HP. The propulsion plant is very similar to that of the NorEx, only with a lot more power.




2 Mitsubishi service generators. The ship can either run on the auxiliary generators, or shaft generators coupled to the main engines. When the ship is on the run, they generate electricity with the shaft generators, which saves fuel. In berth they run on the auxiliary sets. One of these engines is enough to service the entire "hotel load" of the ship, they only need the second one to run the 3 bow thrusters.


This gear is about 6' in diameter, to give a sense of scale.


Extra cylinder heads for the mains.



Overall, I liked the ship. The comfort level of the interior excellent, almost as good as the Northern Expedition. There is lots of comfortable seating in several locations and is a major improvement over the Vision, which has next to none.

They removed 12m from the middle of the ship to make it more maneuverable for Port aux Basques, which is an EXTREMELY tight harbour. Some of the crew were commenting that removing that section has adversely affected the handling of the ship in rough seas, so how good of a "sea boat" these two ships are will remain to be seen. I suspect that with that expanded forward accommodation block, and with the stability somewhat compromised by an altered hull, she won't be as comfortable as the Vision is in heavy weather.


The Atlantic Vision goes in for refit in the new year, and we're supposed to be getting a tour in our Ship Construction class. Hopefully I'll get some decent pictures of her then.

[Mirrlees]

Awesome photo essay Nick! Those MAN's are massive She looks really comfortable as well.

[lmtengs]

I like the basketball hoop on deck 2. Gives the crew time to work out, I guess. B-)
Regarding the snow, is it unfeasible to keep a small snowplow/snowblower on board during the winter?

[Nick]

Nov 26, 2011 23:26:50 GMT -8 @lmtengs said:

I like the basketball hoop on deck 2. Gives the crew time to work out, I guess. B-)
Regarding the snow, is it unfeasible to keep a small snowplow/snowblower on board during the winter?

The bottom deck doesn't get used much during the winter, so it's open deck space and the crew use it for just that. They also had a hockey net hidden away...

The picture doesn't show it very well, but they had an army of guys going at it with little Honda snowblowers. I have to wonder if it would be better to have a bigger one...

[Kahloke]

Great photos Nick! It's really nice to see the new Marine Atlantic vessels. You're lucky to be back there. I'd love to get back to the Maritimes some year. It's been on my bucket list for quite awhile.

[Nick]

Nov 27, 2011 14:15:53 GMT -8 Kahloke said:

Great photos Nick! It's really nice to see the new Marine Atlantic vessels. You're lucky to be back there. I'd love to get back to the Maritimes some year. It's been on my bucket list for quite awhile.

I only wish I had been here early enough to take a ride on either the Caribou or Smallwood. Never going to do that now...

[Dane]

1. I had not read this thread in awhile. Thanks for the food picture, Nick.

2. CBC's "The Current" just did a fairly lengthy piece on the well known (around here) Alang ship-breaking yard in India, and two recent Marine Atlantic vessels that made it there.

Since I am two hours ahead of most forum users I can tell you this story will be on CBC Radio One at aproximately 840am. Will look for a podcast link tonight.

[WettCoast]

Nov 29, 2011 7:20:35 GMT -8 Dane said:

1. I had not read this thread in awhile. Thanks for the food picture, Nick.

2. CBC's "The Current" just did a fairly lengthy piece on the well known (around here) Alang ship-breaking yard in India, and two recent Marine Atlantic vessels that made it there.

Since I am two hours ahead of most forum users I can tell you this story will be on CBC Radio One at aproximately 840am. Will look for a podcast link tonight.

Here is the link to a podcast of the program. For those in BC it will be 'on the air', CBC Radio 1, just after 9:00 AM PST. It will likely be repeated tonight after 8:00 PM local time across Canada on the Current Review.

This is of course the same place where the Queen of Victoria was broken up.

[Low Light Mike]

Here's a brief review & report on Marine Atlantic. This was done for the Province of British Columbia as a comparative part of a larger report released today regarding the BCFerries.

Here's what it had to say about Marine Atlantic's system:

Marine Atlantic Inc.

Marine Atlantic Inc. (MAI) was established in 1986 as a federal Crown Corporation in conjunction with the constitutional guarantee that Canada will maintain a year-round freight and passenger service that meets traffic demand between North Sydney, Nova Scotia and Port aux Basques, Newfoundland.

In 2010, an estimated 27% of all passengers, 50% of all freight and 90% of all perishable goods between Newfoundland and the Canadian mainland were carried by MAI.

The Corporation’s mandate was refined in 1995, under the direction of the National Marine Policy, when it began to focus on providing constitutionally mandated, year-round passenger and commercial ferry service between the Island of Newfoundland and the Province of Nova Scotia to connect the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador with mainland Canada. MAI also operates a second ferry service route (which is not required by the constitution) from mid-June to late-September (the “Peak Season”) between Argentia,NL and North Sydney, NS.

It became evident to the MAI Board and management team, as early as 2004, that additional fleet capacity would soon be needed. To address these concerns, a long-term fleet renewal plan was submitted to Transport Canada in 2007. The 2007 fleet renewal plan was not fully accepted and MAI was asked to conduct further examination of fleet options. As an interim step, $100 million was committed to MAI in 2008 to charter a vessel for a five year period.

In March 2009, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG) issued a special examination report on MAI. This report identified “two significant deficiencies in Marine Atlantic’s systems and practices: one relating to unresolved strategic challenges and the other relating to operational systems and practices in operational planning and capital asset management”. The OAG also suggested MAI improve its practices in
corporate governance, human resources, operations, safety, security and environmental stewardship.

The culmination of pressing management/governance needs, operational and vessel deficiencies and deteriorating customer service caused MAI to develop a revitalization plan which was submitted to the Government of Canada in October 2009. This plan was accepted by the Government of Canada and funding was reflected in the 2010 budget. The revitalization plan was meant to address specific issues. Following acceptance, its longer term implementation has been reflected in the annual five-year corporate planning process.

The longer term strategy adopted focuses on achieving a cost recovery of 60-65% within the first five years, implementing revenue generating strategies and executing a fleet renewal plan and a capital plan to improve
infrastructure. Cost recovery is expected to increase substantially over time.


The MAI example illustrates some of the inherent challenges with crown corporation models, including extended capital planning and decision making processes. However, the recent revitalization initiative that established cost recovery targets and an approved capital plan as part of a five-year planning process has greater transparency.

from here:
www.bcferrycommission.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/12-01-24-BCFC-CFA-Regulatory-Review-FINAL.pdf
(page 51, based on the page numbers written on the document)

[Quatchi]

Hello from the East Coast. Another Cadet and I last minute planned a quick trip over to newfoundland on MA for fridaynight/saturday. We were expecting alittle bit of weather, but were all the more excited to get out of the college for a while.

Well I am on the MV Blue Puttees right now, we are holding in North Sydney and have been for the last 14 hours. There are approximatly 30 pssengers on board and a car deck loaded with drop trailers. We were originally told it was a weather delay, but then MV Highlanders came in last night ahead of schedule. This morning we were told there was a problem with a Flapper and that we would be transfered to to Highlanders and will be departing at 3pm this afternoon.

We figure a flapper has something to do with a chumie, so thats bad bonnga my son. In all truth it kinda sounds like stabilizer issues to me, the weather is a bit crappy, but if the Highlanders isnt having problems i cant see why her identical sister would.

Cheers,

[lmtengs]

Jan 28, 2012 8:10:47 GMT -8 Quatchi said:

...if the Highlanders isnt having problems i cant see why her identical sister would.

Keep in mind the SoBC versus the SoVI... two identical sisters. Which one just so happens to be running on three engines more often than not?

[Nick]

Jan 28, 2012 9:39:16 GMT -8 @lmtengs said:

Jan 28, 2012 8:10:47 GMT -8 Quatchi said:

...if the Highlanders isnt having problems i cant see why her identical sister would.

Keep in mind the SoBC versus the SoVI... two identical sisters. Which one just so happens to be running on three engines more often than not?

He was referring to weather issues. If one vessel of a class is having difficulties with weather, why wouldn't the sister?

[Nick]

Just an example of something Marine Atlantic does to improve its on board experience, take a look at this.

marineatlantic.ca/eng/proposaldetails.asp?ID=358

Call for Musicians

Reference Requisition Number: N/A

Marine Atlantic Inc. is currently seeking submissions for entertainers for onboard the passenger ferries, Highlanders, Blue Puttees and MV Atlantic Vision for the upcoming summer season, June 15 � September 15, 2012.

Onboard entertainment comprises of either singles or duo groups only, working a 7-day gig onboard the vessel. Limited numbers of weeks are available. Entertainers must have a wide repertoire of music including selections from Atlantic Canada and Newfoundland. Entertainers are required to play up to seven 45-minute sets per day.

All interested entertainers are required to submit to the undersigned a promotional packages including; an amateur videotape with 3 music selections, a CD or tape or website with the aforementioned information, and a short biography about the group, as these are used for auditions. Please include a contact phone number, names of the musicians and addresses.

Alternatively, entertainers can submit, via email to the undersigned, web links for consideration provided they provide the above information, videos and contact information.

Room and board is provided onboard the vessel at no charge. Fees will be discussed with the groups that are selected.

Marine Atlantic goes well out of its way to provide entertainment on board for tourists, and directly supports local musicians. When I traveled on the Atlantic Vision in September they had a little stage set up in the forward lounge area where a local group played a few songs.

[lmtengs]

Jan 28, 2012 13:54:32 GMT -8 Nick said:

Just an example of something Marine Atlantic does to improve its on board experience, take a look at this.

marineatlantic.ca/eng/proposaldetails.asp?ID=358

Call for Musicians

Reference Requisition Number: N/A

Marine Atlantic Inc. is currently seeking submissions for entertainers for onboard the passenger ferries, Highlanders, Blue Puttees and MV Atlantic Vision for the upcoming summer season, June 15 � September 15, 2012.

Onboard entertainment comprises of either singles or duo groups only, working a 7-day gig onboard the vessel. Limited numbers of weeks are available. Entertainers must have a wide repertoire of music including selections from Atlantic Canada and Newfoundland. Entertainers are required to play up to seven 45-minute sets per day.

All interested entertainers are required to submit to the undersigned a promotional packages including; an amateur videotape with 3 music selections, a CD or tape or website with the aforementioned information, and a short biography about the group, as these are used for auditions. Please include a contact phone number, names of the musicians and addresses.

Alternatively, entertainers can submit, via email to the undersigned, web links for consideration provided they provide the above information, videos and contact information.

Room and board is provided onboard the vessel at no charge. Fees will be discussed with the groups that are selected.

Marine Atlantic goes well out of its way to provide entertainment on board for tourists, and directly supports local musicians. When I traveled on the Atlantic Vision in September they had a little stage set up in the forward lounge area where a local group played a few songs.

This would be great on BC Ferries. The last time it's been done on our coast was back in the '70s:
ferriesbc.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=generaltalk&action=display&thread=7379

[Nick]

Jan 28, 2012 8:10:47 GMT -8 Quatchi said:

Hello from the East Coast. Another Cadet and I last minute planned a quick trip over to newfoundland on MA for fridaynight/saturday. We were expecting alittle bit of weather, but were all the more excited to get out of the college for a while.

Well I am on the MV Blue Puttees right now, we are holding in North Sydney and have been for the last 14 hours. There are approximatly 30 pssengers on board and a car deck loaded with drop trailers. We were originally told it was a weather delay, but then MV Highlanders came in last night ahead of schedule. This morning we were told there was a problem with a Flapper and that we would be transfered to to Highlanders and will be departing at 3pm this afternoon.

We figure a flapper has something to do with a chumie, so thats bad bonnga my son. In all truth it kinda sounds like stabilizer issues to me, the weather is a bit crappy, but if the Highlanders isnt having problems i cant see why her identical sister would.

Cheers,

An update: I just got a text from Quatchi, they finally departed Sydney on the MV Highlanders at 1630 this afternoon, 1.5 hours later than scheduled. They were originally scheduled to leave on the MV Blue Puttees at 2230 last night. For the inconvenience of being delayed 18 hours they are being given free buffet meals.

[WettCoast]

Jan 28, 2012 14:27:19 GMT -8 @lmtengs said:

This would be great on BC Ferries. The last time it's been done on our coast was back in the '70s:
ferriesbc.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=generaltalk&action=display&thread=7379

There has been entertainment on the Inside Passage summer day cruise a lot more recently than the 1970's. I know for certain there were entertainers employed aboard the Queen of the North up until the summer of 2005. I also believe that there have been entertainers on the Northern Expedition perhaps up to and including last summer (2011). Anyone who has been aboard on a recent summer day cruise can jump in here and confirm or correct what I have said.
books.google.ca/books?id=ImCzXyYivkkC&pg=PA36&lpg=PA36&dq=queen+of+the+north+videos&source=bl&ots=QJA_jaLlen&sig=xrdlhBIY4szDpek9Zew_MSrG2Tk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EbgkT5imIOnH0AGcxbHeCA&ved=0CDYQ6AEwBDge#v=onepage&q=queen%20of%20the%20north%20videos&f=false

I do not recall any entertainment aboard the pond crossers since way back when.

[Quatchi]

Well, I am back at school. I actually got back this morning, but then went right to sleep.

We were finally transferred to the MV Highlanders around 2:30 yesterday afternoon and departed North Sydney at 4:30pm. We joined up with over 100 people who were already on the Highlanders, sop there was about 130 people on board. We were given a complimentary meal and were then quickly introduced to an Atlantic storm and were tossed around by the 6m seas quite nicely. We reached Port aux Basques harbor around 11:30pm and the ship made the tight turnaround in the harbor to back into the berth with no problems.

We then disembarked and hailed a taxi into town for some grub, the old guy was about 8-0 and said he had been driving taxi for 50 years, he was really confusing and a little bit fried, so after he dropped us off at the Tim Horton's we decided to walk back to the terminal.

We boarded the Highlanders and departed Port aux Basques at 3:30 am the next morning. We went right to sleep and didn't wake up until we made land in North Sydney.

I would like to make a couple of comments about Marine Atlantic's winter service. Their customer service kinda sucks.

One, you are not allowed to sleep on the floor, I was rudely awakened Friday night and was told I had to be in a chair. The chairs barely recline and are quite uncomfortable. I figure they just want to sell cabins. They also close off the majority of the ship, there is enough room for the passengers on board, but we were pretty much limited to one seating area and a couple of chairs in a hallway upstairs.

Two, food service is HORRIBLE. The Restaurant was not open Friday night when we boarded, but the bar was open. No food in the bar. The snack bar was open, but it is simply that a snack bar. They have gas station sandwiches and cookies. They do have soup and hot-dogs listed on the menu, but they were not available. They ran out of coffee on Friday night and the steward said they wouldn't be making more tonight. Saturday on the Blue Puttees, the Restaurant did not open for breakfast. When we were transferred to the Highlanders, the food situation wasn't much better. We were given a complimentary diner in the restaurant, but it was small and when it was over the restaurant was locked up again. Again, there was no soup or hot-dog in the snack bar. Lastly this morning the restaurant did not open again and there was no food service on board.

Thirdly, there are no public showers on board that I could find, and the bathrooms could have been a little cleaner.

ALL in ALL my trip was fun, it was an experience, but I think Marine Atlantic has a lot to learn in the Customer Service department.

Cheers,

Pics to come.

[Northern Exploration]

Jan 28, 2012 19:01:01 GMT -8 WettCoast said:

Jan 28, 2012 14:27:19 GMT -8 @lmtengs said:

This would be great on BC Ferries. The last time it's been done on our coast was back in the '70s:
ferriesbc.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=generaltalk&action=display&thread=7379

There has been entertainment on the Inside Passage summer day cruise a lot more recently than the 1970's. I know for certain there were entertainers employed aboard the Queen of the North up until the summer of 2005. I also believe that there have been entertainers on the Northern Expedition perhaps up to and including last summer (2011). Anyone who has been aboard on a recent summer day cruise can jump in here and confirm or correct what I have said.
books.google.ca/books?id=ImCzXyYivkkC&pg=PA36&lpg=PA36&dq=queen+of+the+north+videos&source=bl&ots=QJA_jaLlen&sig=xrdlhBIY4szDpek9Zew_MSrG2Tk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EbgkT5imIOnH0AGcxbHeCA&ved=0CDYQ6AEwBDge#v=onepage&q=queen%20of%20the%20north%20videos&f=false

I do not recall any entertainment aboard the pond crossers since way back when.

Most of my trips were deeper in the shoulder season before the daylight service quit for the year. I know for certain when one trip was just at the start of the shoulder period there were piano/keyboards playing in the bar beside the Buffet. One meal there was someone singing (not sure if it was a paid vocalist or passenger who joined the pianist). One trip as well there was a passenger combo that was very good, made up of a hippie with three German tourists. Two guitars, a flute, and a bongo. They played on the uppermost sheltered aft deck.

[Nick]

These were posted on the Marine Atlantic facebook group yesterday. Brace yourself, they are somewhat depressing. Some pictures are from October/November, and others are from February.

[mrdot]

:)I guess the thing that is most depressing about this post, is it seems like only yesterday that Marine Atlantic mailed me a set of general arangement plans of this new generation ferry! :'(mrdot.