|
Post by Dane on Feb 19, 2006 22:45:18 GMT -8
Nothing on their website except the service cancellation b/c of the engine failure.
CURRENT CONDITIONS Last Updated: Saturday, February 13, 2006 11:00am
SERVICE NOTICE UPDATE
We know how anxious everyone is to see our ship up and running again. As of today are awaiting confirmation of delivery of specialized engine parts from offshore.
As soon as we are assured of having all parts on site to complete the repair we will advise you of an anticipated date for start up.....for now our best guess for start up would be February 28, at the very earliest.
Hopefully we will be able to give you a further update by the end of this week.
Thanks so much for your patience.
HarbourLynx
|
|
|
Post by NMcKay on Feb 19, 2006 23:05:16 GMT -8
gimme ten minutes to recode and upload this. and then ill post it
|
|
|
Post by NMcKay on Feb 19, 2006 23:06:50 GMT -8
the quality is pretty bad. but im sure you guys can get the jyst (sp?) of it
|
|
|
Post by Dane on Feb 19, 2006 23:12:30 GMT -8
Here's my take on what was said:
- The engine problem is effectivly HL's fault, therefore their cost (even though they didn't say that straight out) - they no longer have employees. This could become an issue later LOL - They have 10 days to make a plan to get out of this mess - I have a feeling they might not, but I hope to be suprised.
|
|
|
Post by NMcKay on Feb 20, 2006 0:01:33 GMT -8
it wasn't the current set of Hlynx empoyees that caused that. it was the previous set of Lynx people that did all the refitting and stuff. and unfortunatly left my dad holding a half repaired lynx. and a serious set of managerial flaws.
|
|
|
Post by Dane on Feb 20, 2006 0:32:07 GMT -8
Hows the whole plan thing going LOL Will they present it publically?
|
|
|
Post by NMcKay on Feb 20, 2006 6:42:31 GMT -8
HarbourLynx bankrupt Ferry's staff was laid off on Friday Martha Tropea and Leanna Jantzi, Daily News Published: Monday, February 20, 2006 Article tools
* Printer friendly * E-mail
Font:
* * * * * * * *
HarbourLynx may be sinking in red ink, but the company, its investors and the bank want to do their best to bail Nanaimo's high-speed ferry service out of bankruptcy.
All 35 HarbourLynx staff members lost their jobs and were sent home without pay Friday, as the company was forced into bankruptcy protection.
The 300-passenger, high-speed ferry service (shuttling passengers between downtown Nanaimo and Vancouver) has been out of service since Feb. 2, due to mechanical failures with the vessel's starboard engine.
At 3 p.m. Friday, the company filed a notice of intent to seek bankruptcy protection and 30 minutes later operations manager Bill McKay got the call.
"In some ways we were not surprised," McKay said on Saturday. "We know the company was operating with very little reserves."
The main engine failure was the "icing on the cake," said McKay, noting the company is expected to already owe $4 million to the bank and $500,000 in payables.
But McKay was feeling "more positive" about the situation on Sunday.
"I've been advised by the principals of the company that they are taking a three-pronged approach going forward. They've got 10 days to do it," McKay said . "I've gone through a complete roller-coaster of emotions over the last two days, as I expect most of the employees have. In some cases we're angry, in some cases we feel we've lost a child.
"I know everyone, including myself . . . wants to see this project through. They've all believed in it."
Firstly, HarbourLynx, operated by Nanaimo Harbour Link Corporation and owned by about 40 separate investors, will try and persuade the provincial government to reverse its decision regarding provincial sales tax, McKay said.
An "ongoing dispute" with the provincial government dating back to early 2003 over $500,000 in sales tax must be resolved, McKay said.
Secondly, the company will try and persuade the engine company "to do right by this boat" and take responsibility for the engine failure, McKay said. The minimum cost to fix the engine would top $700,000 and the vessel's second engine is "suspect," he said.
Lastly, the company will try to raise $2 million in operating capital and create a "viable" reorganization and new business plan in the next 10 days. The company has until March 26.
|
|
|
Post by noleaksyet on Feb 20, 2006 16:33:14 GMT -8
posted by HLT
"it wasn't the current set of Hlynx empoyees that caused that. it was the previous set of Lynx people that did all the refitting and stuff"
how so, what happened?
|
|
|
Post by NMcKay on Feb 20, 2006 18:14:22 GMT -8
I wish i could explain. the Previous managers that started the company were in depth in the marine industy
|
|
|
Post by Retrovision on Feb 20, 2006 19:38:30 GMT -8
My condolences, HL Teen. I honestly hope the company can get its head above water, so to speak, for so many reasons, if not just to keep some competitive pressure on the new BCFS until other players can offer the same kind of challenge, as I've just seen cascade outline in another recent post.
I think I speak for most of us here when I wish the company the best of luck with its business plan.
|
|
|
Post by NMcKay on Feb 20, 2006 21:06:47 GMT -8
Harbourlynx Down, But Not Out NANAIMO - The HarbourLynx foot passenger ferry service was placed in receivership Friday aftenoon by its banker.
Shortly after, the company submitted a request for time to come up with a restructuring plan.
The ferry service runs between downtown Nanaimo and downtown Vancouver, and has 40 employees.
All were laid off, without their final two weeks' pay.
The company's former Operations Manager, Bill McKay, says shareholders will be meeting this week in an effort to come up with a plan to resurrect the company.
|
|
|
Post by fg on Feb 21, 2006 4:51:14 GMT -8
Sorry Harbourlynx teen it must be hard around your house these days. Good Luck and I wish you and your family all the best.
|
|
|
Post by NMcKay on Feb 21, 2006 16:58:56 GMT -8
HarbourLynx mum on receivership
By DARRELL BELLAARTThe News Bulletin Feb 21 2006
Reports of financial trouble swirling around Nanaimo HarbourLynx are raising doubts about the future of harbour-to-harbour ferry service to Vancouver. Bill Mckay, the company spokesman, was not answering his phone Monday and customers calling for information got only a recorded message saying: "As you know, the ferry is out of service due to an engine failure." The message said the earliest the service would resume is Feb. 28. The company, which operates a 300-passenger ferry between Nanaimo and Vancouver, was grounded by the failure of one of its engines early this month. Last week Mckay told the News Bulletin that testing was being done to see if a serious fault exists in the German-built MPU engines that drive the ferry. Both engines were rebuilt in Kamloops prior to the company starting up in October 2003. Several investors, who asked not to be named, confirmed a special HarbourLynx board of directors meeting was held early last week to discuss the future of the company. However, they were unable to provide details of the meeting's outcome. No word was available on the status of the company's employees, 23 of whom are represented by the BCGEU.
|
|
|
Post by Dane on Feb 22, 2006 14:05:18 GMT -8
Why are HL employees represented by the BCGEU?
|
|
|
Post by NMcKay on Feb 22, 2006 16:11:29 GMT -8
because the GPRs on the boat were about to start contract negotiations with the BCGEU (i dont know why.....they Arn't British Columbia Government Employees.......)
|
|
|
Post by Dane on Feb 22, 2006 18:06:50 GMT -8
Yeah that does seem odd, of every union to get involved with they pick one that can be legislated back to work and seems sort of incompetant?
|
|
|
Post by kylefossett on Feb 22, 2006 18:52:37 GMT -8
Unions decide who they want and don't want. no other union may have wanted to represent them. This is sort of like the Canadian Auto Workers representing starbucks and some hospital workers.
|
|
|
Post by Mike C on Feb 22, 2006 19:05:52 GMT -8
This is all very unfortunate for HLynx, and their Teen. I really wanted to ride the HLynx, but never got the oppertunity, and it looks like I never will.
|
|
|
Post by Dane on Feb 25, 2006 18:43:32 GMT -8
There was about a 1/3 page story in today's Vancouver Sun about HL going into recievership, however it was written to imply it's never coming back. I'm not sure if this is based on fact, or lack of knowledge on the author's part (I sincerly hope it does resume service).
Here's the story in a nutshell, taking BC Ferries costs the same but takes a hell of a lot longer.
|
|
|
Post by NMcKay on Feb 25, 2006 18:53:31 GMT -8
i couldn't find anything about it on the online edition
|
|
|
Post by NMcKay on Feb 25, 2006 19:29:51 GMT -8
Bruce Constantineau, Vancouver Sun Published: Saturday, February 25, 2006
Claire Shillabeer and her husband Chris got married in November and this month took possession of a brand new, $350,000, 3,000-square-foot house in Nanaimo -- a great start to a life together.
She works in downtown Vancouver while he works in Victoria but the convenience of the high-speed HarbourLynx ferry service between downtown Nanaimo and downtown Vancouver made daily commuting a viable option for Shillabeer.
But after buying a monthly commuter pass from HarbourLynx, Shillabeer got just one ride on the ferry before it shut down Feb. 2 due to engine problems, and then declared itself insolvent. The company's future is up in the air now and so is Shillabeer's future as a daily Nanaimo-to-Vancouver commuter.
Right now, she lives with family and friends in Vancouver during the week and takes BC Ferries to go home to Nanaimo on weekends.
"I'm not sure what we're going to do now," Shillabeer said in an interview. "We'll have to weigh our options and see if there's going to be an alternative service or if someone will pick up HarbourLynx."
HarbourLynx began operating in October 2003 and City of Nanaimo economic development officer Marilyn Hutchinson said about 100 employees of Vancouver-based companies live in Nanaimo and were regular HarbourLynx commuters.
Affordable housing prices and lifestyle considerations -- both important factors to Shillabeer and her husband -- are often cited as the major reasons for living in Nanaimo and ferrying across the Georgia Strait to work every day.
While Nanaimo house prices have increased by about 25 per cent in the past year to an average of more than $290,000, that's still substantially below Vancouver house prices, as the average Multiple Listing Service selling price for a Greater Vancouver home last month was about $457,000.
"Ten years ago, not many people thought about commuting from Vancouver Island to work in Vancouver but with float planes and the high-speed ferry, people are getting quite used to the concept and we consider ourselves to be a neighbour of Vancouver now," Hutchinson said in an interview.
Nanaimo realtor Rob Grey said he has sold a couple of homes to people who've chosen to live on Vancouver Island and work in Vancouver and feels a permanent shutdown of HarbourLynx will clearly hurt the city because it provided the cheapest and most efficient commuting option.
For about $27 a day, HarbourLynx riders could use their monthly pass to catch the ferry at 7 a.m. and arrive in downtown Vancouver at 8:20 a.m. At the end of their work day, they would catch a 5:30 p.m. ferry home and arrive in Nanaimo at 6:50 p.m.
BC Ferries' Nanaimo-to-Horseshoe-Bay service offers similar pricing -- when adding the cost of a TransLink bus from Horseshoe Bay to downtown Vancouver -- but HarbourLynx commuter Todd Cooper said the BC Ferries trip takes 15 minutes longer and passengers usually have to wait 25 minutes to catch a bus.
"You have to catch a 6:30 a.m. sailing [from Nanaimo] but you don't get to downtown Vancouver until around 9:15," he said. "You can pay an extra $7.50 to take a Greyhound bus downtown but that really adds to your commuting costs."
Cooper, a sales representative for a Vancouver courier company, has lived in Nanaimo since 1997 and has commuted to work in Vancouver since 2002.
"Vancouver real estate prices and the crime were big turnoffs to moving to there," he said. "There's no way I would put my wife and three children in a position where they'd have to relocate to Vancouver and live in a house the size of a matchbox compared to the five-bedroom home we have in Nanaimo."
Most HarbourLynx riders have shifted to BC Ferries for the time being but float plane operators Baxter Aviation and Harbour Air both say their Vancouver-to-Nanaimo services have picked up business from the HarbourLynx shutdown. It's not a cheap option, though, as a book of 10 tickets for a week of daily commuting costs about $600.
bconstantineau@png.canwest.com
|
|
|
Post by Ferryman on Feb 26, 2006 11:06:47 GMT -8
The Nanaimo area is among one of the cheapest areas of the Island to own property in. The Mainland however, is not. But property prices go up every year as we get closer to the Olympics. When we sold our house on the Island, we sold it for a quarter of a million dollars. That was a two story, 4 bedroom, 5 year old house with 2500 sq. ft. We had to pay double that to get a house like that over here, of course meaning, half a million dollars. In my opinion, life was better on the Island. It's very relaxed compared to the City of Vancouver Beehive. When my Dad started working on the Mainland while we still lived on the Island, commutting was becoming quite expensive. He would come home every Thursday, and would go home on the coming Monday. 4 Days on, 3 days off. So we then made the decision to move over here, as we thought it would be cheaper for us that way. Parking in Horseshoe Bay is $12 a day plus ferry fare. So every week, we'd spend about $70, times that by 5 weeks, and you get $350 a month with the ferries. But thinking of it now...with the mortgage we have, it probably would be of been cheaper to just stay over there. But then again, thinking 2003 was the worst year for ferry break downs, we were at the point that we had enough of the Ferries. With all of the car fires, passenger medical emergencies, and having to deal with some of the V-Class running route 2 was frustrating anyway. So if one can afford it, I would recommend living on the Island and commuting, just because of the nice scenery the Island has to offer. But if one doesn't want to wreak the treat of getting to see the Island life, and are not bothered by the City traffic, then stick with the mainland.
|
|
|
Post by NMcKay on Feb 27, 2006 11:27:56 GMT -8
today is the day. we will find out after 2:00 is harbourlynx is still going to make a go of it.
|
|
|
Post by Dane on Feb 27, 2006 12:40:15 GMT -8
Keep us informed! I have a bad feeling the media may miss it, even though the most interesting news of the day is a Supreme Court judge being appointed, boring
|
|
|
Post by NMcKay on Feb 27, 2006 15:12:43 GMT -8
CH channel 6 (Lower mainland) or A channel (channel 12 mainland)
|
|