Seaspan Ferries - photo & discussion thread

[Neil]

Mar 21, 2024 6:41:11 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

Mar 21, 2024 6:25:37 GMT -8 Ferryman said:

An update on the Carrier Princess as of yesterday...

Thanks for this. It's different and a bit sad to see the Carrier Princess cut-down to a barge deck, but I understand that this has been the fate of many old ships on our coast.

I like the glimpse of the Queen of Tsawwassen in the background.

I wonder if it is going to be used as a barge or if the next step is dismantlement of the hull. The forward starboard bulwarks are at sort of an odd cut angle.

[paulvanb]

The Seaspan Trader heading up river today.

[Neil]

It's interesting to me that, despite adding four large ferries to their fleet , Seaspan still has a fleet of six, with their two tug and barge combos of the Seaspan Challenger/Coastal Spirit, and the Seaspan Pusher/Fraser Link. As well, Seaspan Greg is still registered and on Marine Traffic at Tilbury, and the Princess Superior at Duke Point, although they are no longer on the Seaspan fleet list page.

The tug and barge combos are down to a few return trips per week. Still, Seaspan moves a considerable portion of the freight between the mainland and Vancouver Island, and the company's investment in fleet renewal indicates that they're in the market long term.

[john689]

Mar 24, 2024 21:19:31 GMT -8 Neil said:

It's interesting to me that, despite adding four large ferries to their fleet , Seaspan still has a fleet of six, with their two tug and barge combos of the Seaspan Challenger/Coastal Spirit, and the Seaspan Pusher/Fraser Link. As well, Seaspan Greg is still registered and on Marine Traffic at Tilbury, and the Princess Superior at Duke Point, although they are no longer on the Seaspan fleet list page.

The tug and barge combos are down to a few return trips per week. Still, Seaspan moves a considerable portion of the freight between the mainland and Vancouver Island, and the company's investment in fleet renewal indicates that they're in the market long term.


From a (former) insider’s perspective, it makes sense, as “renewal” is synonymous with “spending many years ironing out issues with new vessels”

In this instance, it’s wise to not have all your eggs in one basket, as catastrophic failures, collisions, groundings, floodings, etc., did occur periodically pre fleet renewal, and then you need a backup plan, otherwise your business will go down the plug hole within a week.

The new ships look the part, but sometimes looks can be deceiving, and short-sea shipping isn’t always plain sailing. 

You’ll pardon me if I don’t delve to deeply into all the specifics. 

[Neil]

Apr 11, 2024 11:12:05 GMT -8 john689 said:

Mar 24, 2024 21:19:31 GMT -8 Neil said:

It's interesting to me that, despite adding four large ferries to their fleet , Seaspan still has a fleet of six, with their two tug and barge combos of the Seaspan Challenger/Coastal Spirit, and the Seaspan Pusher/Fraser Link. As well, Seaspan Greg is still registered and on Marine Traffic at Tilbury, and the Princess Superior at Duke Point, although they are no longer on the Seaspan fleet list page.

The tug and barge combos are down to a few return trips per week. Still, Seaspan moves a considerable portion of the freight between the mainland and Vancouver Island, and the company's investment in fleet renewal indicates that they're in the market long term.


From a (former) insider’s perspective, it makes sense, as “renewal” is synonymous with “spending many years ironing out issues with new vessels”

In this instance, it’s wise to not have all your eggs in one basket, as catastrophic failures, collisions, groundings, floodings, etc., did occur periodically pre fleet renewal, and then you need a backup plan, otherwise your business will go down the plug hole within a week.

The new ships look the part, but sometimes looks can be deceiving, and short-sea shipping isn’t always plain sailing. 

You’ll pardon me if I don’t delve to deeply into all the specifics. 

john689, you need to re-do your post, because you've put your remarks in with mine.

[john689]

From a (former) insider’s perspective, it makes sense, as “renewal” is synonymous with “spending many years ironing out issues with new vessels”

In this instance, it’s wise to not have all your eggs in one basket, as catastrophic failures, collisions, groundings, floodings, etc., did occur periodically pre fleet renewal, and then you need a backup plan, otherwise your business will go down the plug hole within a week.

The new ships look the part, but sometimes looks can be deceiving, and short-sea shipping isn’t always plain sailing.

You’ll pardon me if I don’t delve to deeply into all the specifics.

[Neil]

I know the approach to WSF's Keystone terminal is notorious for it's tightness and shallow water, but Seaspan's Surrey terminal has to give it a run for its money as the most difficult approach in this general area. I don't know how to link Google Earth screenshots to this forum, but go there and check it out. With the narrow channel and adjacent log booms, I can't imagine how tricky it would be to guide a barge in there with a pusher tug. Maybe that's part of the reason Seaspan is more frequently using one of their new conventional ferries. There's barely enough room to turn into the dock.


49°11'38"N 122°54'35"W, if the co-ordinates help.

[WettCoast]

Seaspan truck-trailor ferry Seaspan Transporter en route from Swartz Bay to its mainland terminal at Tilbury 

10 June 2024

© WCK-JST by Jim Thorne, on Flickr

[Neil]

I wonder how long Seaspan is going to maintain their Surrey terminal. They used to have two departures a day, at least Monday to Friday, but now they're down to one, using the Fraser Link, and they absorb the cost of the Seaspan Swift deadheading from Surrey downriver to Tilbury five days a week. No departures on weekends. Barely seems worth it, unless the Surrey terminal serves another purpose, or space is fully utilized at Tilbury.

[Neil]

Although she's still at Tilbury, Seaspan Greg no longer shows up on Marine Traffic. Perhaps she's done, although her TC cert is valid until late next year. Princess Superior still shows on MT at Duke Point, but hasn't done a revenue sailing in ages.

[john689]

Sept 5, 2024 17:11:36 GMT -8 Neil said:

Although she's still at Tilbury, Seaspan Greg no longer shows up on Marine Traffic. Perhaps she's done, although her TC cert is valid until late next year. Princess Superior still shows on MT at Duke Point, but hasn't done a revenue sailing in ages.

The Greg was showing her age 16 years ago, and when I at Seaspan I was wondering just how cost effective to was to crew a small vessel that only carries ~ 26 trailers. I suppose Seaspan now thinks similarly. The same might apply to the Superior, as altough she wasn’t as down at heel as the Carrier, or the Greg, she was nearing the borderline…and that was over five years ago. 

[john689]

I stumbled upon this on YouTube quite by accident the other day, and was mesmerized by the accuracy. A scratch built, scale model of the Carrier Princess. With SRY Rail link locomotives.  

[Neil]

Nov 2, 2024 9:31:37 GMT -8 john689 said:

I stumbled upon this on YouTube quite by accident the other day, and was mesmerized by the accuracy. A scratch built, scale model of the Carrier Princess. With SRY Rail link locomotives.  View Attachment

That guy does amazing work. I've seen so many model railroads where the skill in putting together the buildings, rail infrastructure, and natural scenery is really superb... but all the locos and freight cars are pristine. Ridiculous. He's done a great job of weathering and putting rust where it should be. Look at the timbers on the trestle- very hard to distinguish from the real thing. And so nice that the poor old Carrier Princess has been immortalized... at least the front half. When he was remarking on how she didn't suit her original purpose, I suppose he was referring to her brief stint as a passenger ferry, though he didn't mention it.

[john689]

Nov 2, 2024 15:02:56 GMT -8 Neil said:

Nov 2, 2024 9:31:37 GMT -8 john689 said:

I stumbled upon this on YouTube quite by accident the other day, and was mesmerized by the accuracy. A scratch built, scale model of the Carrier Princess. With SRY Rail link locomotives.  View Attachment

That guy does amazing work. I've seen so many model railroads where the skill in putting together the buildings, rail infrastructure, and natural scenery is really superb... but all the locos and freight cars are pristine. Ridiculous. He's done a great job of weathering and putting rust where it should be. Look at the timbers on the trestle- very hard to distinguish from the real thing. And so nice that the poor old Carrier Princess has been immortalized... at least the front half. When he was remarking on how she didn't suit her original purpose, I suppose he was referring to her brief stint as a passenger ferry, though he didn't mention it.

Yes, his work is nonpareil! Having spent a good deal of time on the carrier, the attention to detail is astonishing, right down to the yellow, two-door paint locker on the deck. The only errors were in the life saving appliances on the bridge. In one of his early build videos, he confesses that he doesn’t know the purpose of a particular orange-coloured device on the bridge. I pointed out to him that it was a man overboard smoke discharger. The second error was the deck, as he thought that it was concrete, but it was, in fact, asphalt. Apart from those two minor faults, it’s amazing that he never set foot on the Carrier, and was working with photographic references only.