Why are they replacing the Chilliwack?

[hergfest]

In all of the Northern Route strategies, they plan to replace the Chilliwack. Why? She was only built in 1978, and she can carry 115 cars which is decent. So why replace her?

[Political Incorrectness]

she is old still and she has been repaired many times it is time for her to go

[Doug]

I've heard the Chilliwack is in bad shape...let alone the ugly duckling of the fleet.

[hergfest]

The Cow and the Coq are older than she is, is it that she is in bad enough shape not to do a midlife on her?

[Curtis]

Yeah She isn't that old she's just in bad shape the C Class are in better shape then her from the looks of it

[Scott]

The Queen of Chilliwack is an interesting ship. There are stairs to go to the car deck from the outside deck along the sides of the ship, not just in the middle. I went on her for the first time just last May. She's a real interesting ferry to explore... lots of stairs and outside deck. Inside, one of the lounges has chairs that recline.

My guess is that she's bulky and doesn't have enough passenger capacity. She has a lower passenger capacity than the Bowen Queen. She's slow... only 14 knots. And for her size, she's very heavy.. not much lighter than the Queen of Alberni. Perhaps stricter maritime laws would also make her obsolete in the near future.. like the Queen of the North and Queen of Prince Rupert (I think).

[Dane]

There is another very important reason... Transport Canada wants the ship gone. There is something safety related that the ship doesn't meet, and she's currently being grandfathered. Unfortunatly, I cannot remember what it is

[Shane]

I like the Chilliwack, she's a really neat ship.
To bad shes gonna be retired soon.

[Low Light Mike]

I think this thread illustrates an interesting point:

- just because a ship is slow or less-useful, doesn't mean that it isn't interesting.

Interesting ship? absolutely

Less than usefull to BCF? absolutely

[YZFNick]

Interesting stuff, makes sense tho. Probably the Chilliwack was originally a temporary vessel that ended up staying around longer than expected. Then they created a route for it.

What about refitting the Bowen Queen for the mid coast run? You could put a galley on it, expand the passenger area and even create state rooms on one of the lower decks? Since BCF is fond of chop jobs, why not totally transform one of their smaller ships. Or for that matter the NIP, stable ship that was chopped to bits before. These ships are smaller than the Chilliwack, but would be cheaper to run on a money-losing route.

[NMcKay]

The Chilliwack has 4 Z Drives, and that allows the ship to be one of the most manuverable in the fleet, and remember shes got some unique qualites, im sure they will fine a location for her to work in. they just dont exactly know where yet. and he Service Speed iis 14 knots, but she has been known to get up to 22, they run her @ 14 just because of the fuel economy that they earn, and the less wear on the engines.

[Shane]

They could make new route.
"Prince Rupert-Stewart-Prince Rupert-Kitimat-Prince Rupert" They could do that twice a week.
They could build a new ferry for the Discovery Coast route and extend the route to Kitimat so it connects with the new route.
On the new route when the Chilliwack runs from Prince Rupert to Kitimat, the small town of Hartly bay could become a whisle stop.

[Scott]

Why do you need a ferry from Prince Rupert to Kitimat when you can drive it in about/less than 2 hours?

[Doug]

That's because our ships are made with quality....

[NMcKay]

Im going to point out that BCf tried to use another companies design (pacificats) and it didn;t work, and yet the sydney class, which several companies now use, was designed by another company, and would you like to know why the Pacificats didn't work? because after BCF decided that the ship could be approverd for building they said "we need to add, this, this, and this." and never took that revised design back to the Testing basin to make sure it still worked

[Dane]

harbourlynxkid said:

Im going to point out that BCf tried to use another companies design (pacificats) and it didn;t work, and yet the sydney class, which several companies now use, was designed by another company, and would you like to know why the Pacificats didn't work? because after BCF decided that the ship could be approverd for building they said "we need to add, this, this, and this." and never took that revised design back to the Testing basin to make sure it still worked

That's a bad example.

The Sydney type vessels were in fact hugely altered by BC Ferries, but they had the designers support.

The FastCat's are the exact same story, but here we had a ship that was clouded in politics, rather than a dabte about their functionality. It's important to remember these ships have new, warranty replaced engines that makes the ships must closer to their performance targets, and could possible pull off a 90 minute turn time.



"Where in the world are BC Ferry designs - if they are that good? Why don't we"

Washington, San Fran, NY. The designs do work well for the type of climate and traffic conditions that BC Ferries operates with. Cars look different in Europe too, for example. Although you can get many models that are the same (imports, like the NOrth and Chilliwack) there are models that I'd kill to get here (BMW 1 series). There is no need to try and create a question about why there isn't other vessels like the BC Ferries, when there in fact is. Just not to the same magnitude of size.

[Engineer]

dane said:

There is another very important reason... Transport Canada wants the ship gone. There is something safety related that the ship doesn't meet, and she's currently being grandfathered. Unfortunatly, I cannot remember what it is

I think it is to do with not having a proper collision bulkhead.same as the Q Of The North
The Chilli has an ice breaking class hull

[NMcKay]

yeah, what would be the problem with putting a collision bulkhead in....wait....she has extended bows....she doesn;t need it.

[Starbucks Queen]

ferryfreakshane said:

They could make new route.
"Prince Rupert-Stewart-Prince Rupert-Kitimat-Prince Rupert" They could do that twice a week.
They could build a new ferry for the Discovery Coast route and extend the route to Kitimat so it connects with the new route.
On the new route when the Chilliwack runs from Prince Rupert to Kitimat, the small town of Hartly bay could become a whisle stop.

That´s a bit of a nonsense - sorry to say. Though, I think the question after all - if they think the Chilliwack needs to be replaced they do have a valid reason for sure and it´s not worth moaning about a vessel that eventually became useless.

[Engineer]

harbourlynxkid said:

yeah, what would be the problem with putting a collision bulkhead in....wait....she has extended bows....she doesn;t need it.

It all comes down to money, Transport Canada change the rules for northern vessels, They want vessels to be more than one water tight compartment, meaning more collision bulk heads, which is very costly for a ship that only has so much life left in her .
I don't know all the details , but thats the story we hear on the ships..

[roeco]

If Transport Canada has issues with the Chilliwack on the Northern Run could they not put her on a different run?? Like could she not stay on Earls Cove-Saltery Bay in the winter or even do Comox-Powell River? I think she would be suited for the Gulf Islands too!

[QTeen]

Why not give her a refit, and let her work on a southern route?
E.g the Southern Gulf Islands as a summer vessel

[Curtis]

Hmmmm...I don't think BC Ferries would want to spend another couple of million dollars on another refit to the Chilliwack but maybe they should get rid of the 3 watertight doors if she won't work on the Northern routes anymore

[Dane]

cascade said:

The "new" management has to look at how they spend the limited resources they have on vessel maintenance, and make management decision, where as in the past, they had an open cheque book - anything to keep the shipyards and unions happy - forget the cost...

That doesnt even make sense. "Open cheque book". There has been far more investment in the last 5 years than at any other time in the last 20.

[Doug]

Hey Harry, how about split it in half and put one half of on the Nanaimo-Gabriola route and the other on the Mill Bay route...and then you can buy the Quinsam and Mill Bay with your pocket money and get away knowing that the Mill Bay route is safe and sound....