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Post by NMcKay on Nov 2, 2006 18:40:19 GMT -8
Spring startup likely for foot ferry
By Darrell Bellaart
The news Bulletin
Nov 02 2006
If the proponent of passenger ferry service to downtown Vancouver can’t launch the service by mid-December, it will be delayed until March.
And a spring start is becoming more likely all the time, says Ed Life, who recently bought the vessel used to carry passengers between the two city harbours.
“Every day I get less optimistic about December,” Life said.
Life is awaiting delivery of two engines from Europe to drive the vessel formerly known as the Harbourlynx, which was decommissioned by engine failure in the spring, abruptly cancelling the service.
Life, a Victoria businessman, said he’d probably buy a third engine as a backup, and he wants a second ship, allowing travel in both directions simultaneously.
“That’s downstream,” he said. “But it’s all driven by demand. And demand, right now I think there’s a lot of pent-up demand.”
He said housing development in downtown Nanaimo , plus all the traffic a conference centre will generate, are both positive signs.
“There’s a lot of growth on Vancouver Island and those who have moved here most recently are more mobile,” he said.
“If you get someone who’s just moved here, he wants to go to Vancouver, and there’s more and more moving here all the time.”
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Post by Dane on Nov 3, 2006 11:56:27 GMT -8
How many of the "old" crew is he re-employing and have they been paid off? That's an excellent question - I was (am) under the impression the HL ppl still had a lot of debt to employees? |
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Post by landlocked on Nov 5, 2006 13:10:47 GMT -8
This whole 'new' venture is very intriguing. Mr. Life claims that he is the sole principal of the new company, yet, Mr. Conconi (one of the previous private bankers) has been quoted on two separate occasions that it is HE that is "putting the boat back to work".
The issue of 'nickels' adds up. The cost per passenger mile of this vessel is significantly higher than a conventional ship. Compound that with the fact that the customer has to pay an additional $2.30 for terminal fees and GST on top of that. It all adds up, particularly when you are competing with a company (BCFS) that receives about $130M in Fed/Prov subsidies every year. Hard to do. One of WestJet's biggest contributions to their bottom line has been 'watching the pennies and nickels'.
Until such time as BCFS 'get' that providing a different product such as pax only service grows the market, they wont do it. They think HL did nothing but detract riders from them. Not the case, HL grew the market, just like Seaspan would if they put the Pacificats to work. Sure you will get some customers who will switch, but having creative competition out there will grow the market. No doubt. It has worked in the past and will work again. In the airline industry, they have seen cases where markets have grown by up-wards of 800% in some cases, just by having more availability and with some price stimulation.
I constantly hear the term 'deep pockets required', yet I rarely hear 'viable business plan'. Any venture with the kind of capital required that this does, needs deep pockets. It also needs a business plan that makes sense. Investors need return on their capital. It's pretty elementary stuff.
A spring start up is wise in once sense, as January and February are poor travel months. The difficulty for Mr. Life will be getting the bugs ironed out before the big travel times arrive. He should start in Jan/Feb to give them time to work the bugs out.
Anyway, what do I know?
No, the HarbourLynx staff have never been paid. Mr. Conconi and Mr. Weaver have stated they will take the severence issue to the Supreme Court of Canada if necessary. Interestingly, some of the original crew are back on board...
Things that make you go hmmmm.....
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Post by lubicon1 on Nov 6, 2006 12:11:56 GMT -8
Any ideas on what this new service will be called ? Colour scheme of the "old" Lynx. How many of the "old" crew is he re-employing and have they been paid off? Seeing as this appears to be a completely new venture, the 'old' employees would legally be entitled to nothing as far as what they are owed from the old company. They would have to pursue that seperately. |
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Post by landlocked on Nov 6, 2006 12:43:35 GMT -8
Mr Life has been very guarded with his comments concerning a second vessel. He has stated numerous times that a second boat is "downstream" or "down the road". He is also talking 2 round trips per day ramping up to 3 in April/May. He has mentioned a second vessel will be in the 200 pax range.
With respect to the previous claims, the ship was arrested for failure to pay wages. Done so under the Canada Shipping Act, not under any Labour Codes, therefore is not owed by previous operating company, but owners of the ship, which at the time she was arrested, was 'the bank'. I understand the primary issue was severence, not wages owed, and that the 'bankers' have posted a bond or guarantee with the courts pending the outcome of legal proceedings.
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Post by NMcKay on Nov 6, 2006 16:48:24 GMT -8
Domain sealinkferry.ca
Registrant Name Sealink Ferry Corporation
Registrar DomainsAtCost Corp.
Renewal Date 2007/10/13
Date approved 2006/10/13
Last changed 2006/10/13
Description
Registrar Number 45
Registrant Number 1661719
Domain Number 1661719
DNS1
dns.domainsatcost.ca
DNS2
dns2.domainsatcost.ca
DNS3
DNS4
DNS5
DNS6
Administrative Contact
Name Barry Winters
Job Title
Postal Address Sealink Ferry Corporation 303 - 235 Bastion St. Nanaimo BC V9R 3A3 Canada
Phone 12507561846
Fax
Email jay@webacom.com
Technical Contact
Name Barry Winters
Job Title
Postal Address Sealink Ferry Corporation 303 - 235 Bastion St. Nanaimo BC V9R 3A3 Canada
Phone 12507561846
Fax
Email jay@webacom.com
Notice the Address, the same as Harbourlynx HQ
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Post by landlocked on Nov 7, 2006 10:11:47 GMT -8
I was weary of the name as well Cascade. Upon checking the internet, there are a number of Sealinks out there. It's going to be hard to optimize your web address when there are so many others out there, particularly when they've gone with .ca as opposed to .com.
Oh well, they claim to be the ones that know how to do it where others have failed...
Time will tell
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Post by Scott on Nov 25, 2006 14:25:13 GMT -8
I agree that the name is lousy too. Not that it's a bad name, but it's way overused and has a history of failure on the coast. It doesn't take much imagination to come up with a new name.
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Post by landlocked on Nov 30, 2006 10:05:39 GMT -8
We all believe that a little revenue for the ports is better than none. They don't see it that way. In Vancouver, the Port and Translink were in collusion with respect to the arrangements at the terminal. In Nanaimo, it appeared the Port viewed the operation as nothing more than a low risk, high revenue stream FOR THEM! In either case, neither will be willing to cut a deal that doesn't meet THEIR ends exclusively. And yes, you are correct when you say, the customer pays in the end.
Too bad. Competition is healthy for the consumer.
We haven't heard anything more from the fella who went to the focus group in September with respect to the Vancouver/Nanaimo reservation only service.
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Neil
Voyager 
Posts: 7,089
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Post by Neil on Dec 10, 2006 22:51:29 GMT -8
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Post by NMcKay on Dec 11, 2006 9:35:45 GMT -8
Nah
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Post by vanislander on Dec 13, 2006 9:24:50 GMT -8
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Post by NMcKay on Dec 13, 2006 10:21:47 GMT -8
im assuming due to the WHOIS, that webacom will be taking over for Island Sealink on the Hosting Front.
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Post by inquirering minds on Dec 14, 2006 0:35:22 GMT -8
have the employees been paid....NO...will they get paid...not sure, and if they do,its a good chance that its along time from now!believe me i know!it shows the appreciation they had for past employees,i dont know what kind of a miracle there planning on promising past crew to return but it better be good!some have put there lives on hold,just to be told something they dont want to hear!!!!
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Post by Dane on Dec 14, 2006 17:53:01 GMT -8
But he's a new owner - the asset isnt part of HL anymore. Thus, no hold. I agree that action against HL seems to not have been as substantial as it should have been.
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Post by kylefossett on Dec 14, 2006 19:13:04 GMT -8
employees being paid and other outstanding debts. when the original harbourlynx company filed for bankruptcy they would have made an offer for covering the debts (not sure how much the over was but usually just a % of the total debt). unfortunatley people don't get paid(employees). when a company is sold because of bankruptcy the purchasing company will usually assume the debt or a portion of it
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Post by NMcKay on Jan 4, 2007 18:11:48 GMT -8
Okay, i thought id fill you guys in with what information i have (not much)
When harbourlynx when bankrupt, the ships crew arrested the vessel for lost wages.
Ed life came in and purchased the company, but DID NOT assume responsibility for the rest of the lost wages (i believe that the ships crew were paid so that they would release the vessel to the new company)
the engines were ordered, but something happened to them, and ed thought it better to keep the engines there and get them fixed, i do believe they are brand new from the factory, but i cannot confirm this
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Post by Jcachristian on Jan 5, 2007 16:28:29 GMT -8
And she is still at her Nanaimo Dock as we speak. I am currently at the Nanaimo Public library and did see her earlier this afternoon.  |
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Post by NMcKay on Jan 5, 2007 19:06:02 GMT -8
they are newer models of the same diesel engines as before (so that the one working engine can be sent for repairs, and then kept for a spare.
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Post by NMcKay on Jan 6, 2007 22:28:42 GMT -8
its went to kamloops or something like that, and they recommeded a repair, but i think ed life said "Keep it, we dont want it anymore" and they dont need drydock for an engine swap. they just go over to the nanaimo graving dock, and get it loaded in with a truck
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Post by NMcKay on Jan 7, 2007 10:20:42 GMT -8
unfortunately the TC Inspection has lapsed, so she will need to be hauled out of the water and inspected before she can go back to active duty
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Post by oceaneer77 on Jan 11, 2007 18:55:00 GMT -8
I had thought that the Harbour Lynx had MTU 396 series engines
16v396tb94??
I wish them all of the luck in the world to keep these engines running in commercial servies without breaking the bank!
As MTU sands for eMpty U Pockets...
Great engines for government owned vessels!
Oceaneer77
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Post by oceaneer77 on Jan 12, 2007 8:59:37 GMT -8
The fuel is the cheap part for these engines
top end overhaul at 3000 hours and full rebuild to new condition at 6000 hours.
overhaul cost 300-400K depending on how much you have to replace..
similar cat engine top end at 5000 and full at 10000, 2/3 the price for parts!
cascade.. does Mitsubishi heavy industries have any presence in the marine segment in the UK?
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Post by NMcKay on Jan 12, 2007 11:42:01 GMT -8
unfortuantley the cat engine cannot develop the revolutions to get the jets going fast enough. theres another engine they were looking at, but the new management didn;t adopt it.
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,089
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Post by Neil on Jan 25, 2007 22:00:20 GMT -8
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