QUEEN OF BURNABY - Photos & Discussion

[Mike]

Father and son observe the Queen of Burnaby arriving at Little River.

[Low Light Mike]

Burnaby will be out of service for "several days" with the port-side propeller shaft problem.

From Powell River Peak:

Mechanical problem causes ferry cancellations

Burnaby will be out ‘several days,’ alternative service being decided
by Kyle Wells | [e-mail]
Published: Monday, February 6, 2012 11:19 AM PST

BREAKING NEWS – BC Ferries has cancelled all sailings of the Queen of Burnaby between Powell River and Little River for Monday, February 6 to assess a mechanical problem with the vessel’s propulsion system.

Deborah Marshall, BC Ferries spokesperson, said a problem with the vessel’s port shaft has forced the corporation to remove it from the run. The vessel missed one sailing the day before because of the trouble and has now been removed from the run altogether.

Marshall said the problem is still being assessed but that the vessel will be out “for several days.” Officials are working on alternative service for the route, which will likely see the North Island Princess, which normally runs between Powell River and Texada Island, service the route while BC Ferries vessel Tachek services Texada. That service will not start until at least Tuesday, February 7.

The Queen of Chilliwack is not currently available as it is undergoing a refit. The Burnaby returned from its own $12-million refit in December 2011, which included work to the propulsion system.

Marshall said details of the fix and of alternative service will be decided and released by Monday afternoon.

from here:
www.prpeak.com/articles/2012/02/06/news/doc4f30277623968575330033.txt


This issue might turn into something bigger, or at least be part of a long-term trend of "old ship is breaking-down too often", so that's why I'm putting this short-term stuff into the ship's permanent thread.

[Low Light Mike]

Burnaby will be replaced by NIP for (at least) 3 days

Queen of Burnaby – Temporary Vessel Replacement and Modified Schedule

February 7, 8, and 9, 2012

Please be advised that due to on going mechanical difficulties the Queen of Burnaby will be removed from service to conduct required repairs. The North Island Princess will stand in as the replacement vessel on the following modified schedule for February 7, 8 and 9, 2012.


Leave Comox (Little River)
Leave Powell River (Westview)

6:15 a.m.
8:15 a.m.

10:15 a.m.
12:15 p.m.

3:15 p.m.
5:15 p.m.

7:15 p.m.
9:15 p.m.


Please be advised that the North Island Princess is a smaller vessel and therefore has limited passenger and vehicle capacity. The vessel is capable of carrying only 49 vehicles and a total of 140 passengers.

Limited catering facilities will be available on board. Limited catering facilities will be available on board. Customers are advised that there is no elevator service and washrooms are limited to the upper passenger area only.

BC Ferries encourages Vancouver Island destined customers who find it necessary to travel with their vehicles to travel via Saltery Bay / Earls Cove, Langdale / Horseshoe Bay and Horseshoe Bay / Departure Bay.

BC Ferries will be providing a limited 15 passenger shuttle service for service between Little River Terminal and Comox or Courtenay to assist those foot passengers travelling to essential appointments in these communities only.

We apologize for any inconvenience this temporary change of vessel and schedule may cause.

The shuttle-bus for foot pax essential-appointments is a nice touch.

Good thing the Tachek is available to allow the NIP to fill-in at Comox.
- if Tachek were getting her rebuild done this year, then this wouldn't be possible (assuming that Chilliwack would have been in refit too at same time).

[Scott (Former Account)]

The Queen of Burnaby is currently at Berth 1, Departure Bay.

[Low Light Mike]

Christina Montgomery has a story on the 'Burnaby and the problems of a company not having a suitable replacement vessel available

onthewaterfrontblog.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/a-new-phase-in-the-evolution-of-bc-ferries-no-spare-boats-and-a-replacement-vessel-that-has-problems-of-her-own/

[Curtis]

Here are some photos from my iPhone on the 2nd Half of the Queen of Burnaby Trip the other day.

Since Scott has covered a good chunk of the main trip, I'll cover what I captured before my return trip that may not have happened.

First some photos from about the time the 3:15 Sailing was Cancelled.






Later on that evening they did some quick Sea Trials.





From this point they did a quick turnaround and came back to the terminal, I didn't get any good photos of it though.



They came back in after this.






Shortly after these photos were taken they announced we would sail.




You can notice the sides on the platform ramps were down at this point (I was sure we would sail at that point)


Finally, we were homeward bound...




...and away we went.

[Scott (Former Account)]

February 7, 2012

The following image posted by this account is copyright © S.A. ~ Unauthorized use is prohibited.

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BC Ferries - Coastal Inspiration and Queen of Burnaby at Departure Bay. by BCFS, on Flickr

[lmtengs]

The Bs used to be the 'big boat's of the fleet... now look at the Burnaby against the Inspiration... makes me wonder what kind of ships we'll have being put into service 40 years from now!

[Low Light Mike]

Queen of Burnaby will be out-of-service for longer than earlier reported. It will be 12 days total, at least....

- from Powell River Peak newspaper

Burnaby out until late next week

Vessel to go to dry dock for repairs
by Kyle Wells | [e-mail]
Published: Wednesday, February 8, 2012 7:37 PM PST

UPDATED – BC Ferries is now reporting that the Queen of Burnaby is going into dry dock for repairs on Sunday, February 12 and is expected to return to service late the following week, around Friday, February 17.

In the meantime the North Island Princess will remain on the route, said spokesperson Deborah Marshall, while the Tachek services the Powell River to Texada Island route.

City of Powell River councillor Chris McNaughton, who has ferries in his portfolio, told the Peak that he and Mayor Dave Formosa spoke with BC Ferries CEO Mike Corrigan about the situation. Corrigan expressed to them his concern over the situation and its impact on the community.

McNaughton said that they asked if the Queen of Nanaimo could be dispatched to service the route, but Corrigan explained that it would not make sense to do that because by the time they retrained the crew to operate that vessel the Burnaby would be ready for return. They can not bring the Nanaimo’s regular crew to Powell River because of union rules.

BC Ferries is working with Pacific Coastal Airlines to arrange one or two flights per day from Powell River to Comox for people with medical appointments, according to McNaughton. The number of flights will be dependent on need. A toll free number will be set up for passengers to make reservations and the trip will be covered by the provincial government, just as a medical trip on the ferry would be.

McNaughton also said that BC Ferries is looking at having the Tachek run between Powell River and Comox for one or two runs per day purely for commercial travel to lighten traffic on the North Island Princess.

“BC Ferries is doing everything, we believe, that they can under the circumstances,” said McNaughton, “to work with not only our community but the mayor and myself to resolve this issue to the best of their abilities.”

The situation is further proof of the need for new vessels to service Powell River, said McNaughton. McNaughton said that BC Ferries is sympathetic to that need and that he and Formosa are meeting with Blair Lekstrom, BC’s minister of transportation and infrastructure, on March 14 to further discuss future plans for ferries in Powell River.

from here:
www.prpeak.com/articles/2012/02/08/news/doc4f30277623968575330033.txt

Photo opportunity for Tachek at Little River ?

[Northern Exploration]

Feb 8, 2012 20:32:32 GMT -8 @lmtengs said:

The Bs used to be the 'big boat's of the fleet... now look at the Burnaby against the Inspiration... makes me wonder what kind of ships we'll have being put into service 40 years from now!

As a kid the Burnaby seemed big.

[Low Light Mike]

Christina Montgomery has a commentary post on the 'Burnaby's latest problem, here:
onthewaterfrontblog.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/so-did-the-ferry-leave-an-11-million-refit-with-problems-remaining-or-not/#respond


Here's the key comment:

Here’s a question for some enterprising journalist: did BC Ferries pull the Queen of Burnaby out of an $11-million refit knowing that problems remained with part of its steering system?

Might be nice to track down the answer, because that ferry just got pulled from service for steering-system repairs less than two months out of refit, and is now at Esquimalt in drydock for some undoubtedly pricey work. Because the company doesn’t keep any genuinely spare vessels around, the breakdown and the repairs also prompted a frantic shuffle to move ferries around to cover for the missing vessel — a shuffle that included moving the tiny North Island Princess, which was suffering her own brief mechanical challenges.

As well, I’m thinking that if the steering problem was clear before the ferry left refit, it might also be nice to track down an answer to this question: How can a company do things like that at a time when we have just paid for two reports that insist the company’s safety practices and management expertise are just fine?

[WettCoast]

Feb 8, 2012 20:32:32 GMT -8 @lmtengs said:

The Bs used to be the 'big boat's of the fleet... now look at the Burnaby against the Inspiration... makes me wonder what kind of ships we'll have being put into service 40 years from now!

Its funny how that works...

The seven 'stretched' sisters (V's & B's) did look pretty big along side the originals Sidney & Tsawwassen. But then along came the C class and suddenly the stretched sisters were not so big. And then they lifted five of the sisters such that they were close to the same size as the C's. Then later, in the 1990's along came the Spirits, and after 2000 the Coast Boats.

Will the trend to ever bigger continue? Not if declining traffic continues as has been the case over recent years.

[mrdot]

:)yes, indeed that's funny how that works, the biggest double-enders in the world? and the biggest new shibbuilding programme in the province's history, what a load of hoohy! and a future of wall mart wage earners! ::)mrdot.

[priver]

Does anyone know why when the NIP is running the comox route they bring it into westview bow first instead of stern first like when it is running the texada run. I also was just at the dock at they were trying the tachek bow first I guess as a trial for next week when it also will do a few runs to comox.

[Low Light Mike]

Feb 9, 2012 20:16:53 GMT -8 priver said:

Does anyone know why when the NIP is running the comox route they bring it into westview bow first instead of stern first like when it is running the texada run. I also was just at the dock at they were trying the tachek bow first I guess as a trial for next week when it also will do a few runs to comox.

I believe the issue is that the dock-apron at Little River can't fit a raised-bow ship (like the northern minors).

Westview must be different, maybe a bit narrower apron or tapered.


Back in July 2007 when Tachek filled-in on route-9, she needed a wooden fitting for the indented part of her raised-bow.

[Ferryman]

The Queen of Burnaby has departed Departure Bay about half an hour ago. She's now bound for Esquimalt Graving Dock.

[Northern Exploration]

Feb 9, 2012 11:05:32 GMT -8 mrdot said:

:)yes, indeed that's funny how that works, the biggest double-enders in the world? and the biggest new shibbuilding programme in the province's history, what a load of hoohy! and a future of wall mart wage earners! ::)mrdot.

All Jimmy did there was hand over a wad of cash. If he was running it I would be afraid he would fire the sickest person each month for lack of healing .

[mrdot]

:)It is common knowledge that jimmy p. is a hard taskmaster, much like the biblical master that gives out the talents in a parable, but propably what we ourselves should be concerned with is what we give of ourselves! mrdot.

[Low Light Mike]

Christina Montgomery has another piece on the 'Burnaby saga, here:
onthewaterfrontblog.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/cheaping-out-on-maintenance-costs-bc-ferries-a-bundle-and-its-not-safe/

A sample:

I got several emails yesterday after I speculated that BC Ferries knew it still had problems with the Queen of Burnaby when it pulled the ferry out of an $11-million refit last December.

The simple answer to all of the people who wrote: yes, there are questions here that journalists should be asking.

If it’s true that the company was aware of possible problems – and there is much chatter out there on the waterfront to just that effect — then it was a very expensive decision.

If it’s true, it was a troubling decision in other ways too.

- and another sample:

...Let me put it this way: would you feel differently about this week’s ferry “problems” if you read a news story that said the Queen of Burnaby was being pulled from service, causing huge headaches for passenger and commercial traffic, to return for very expensive repairs to a part of the steering system that should have been addressed during an $11-million refit just two months earlier?

Right then.

How about if the story went on to question whether the problem was caused because maintenance was only performed on one prop during the refit? Sort of like you took your car in for an expensive tune up and they only rotated one tire?

That’s the kind of chatter that’s rippling around the waterfront this week as the Queen of Burnaby sits in drydock and our provincial ferry company flies passengers around on chartered planes.

And if there’s anything to the speculation, then how the heck can maintenance have fallen so completely apart just a month before the company’s safety practices got such a glowing review? How can a company be well managed, how can it be run efficiently when this kind of stuff happens?

I'm hoping that the 'Burnaby situation gets as "bad as it needs to be" in order to force some meaningful changes to how the Provincial Government funds ferries operations, and so that a vessel replacement plan can be agreed-on and funded.

[cmontgomery]

Mr. Horn: thanks for the link to my post. I have to apologize for the brain freeze. They're working on the propeller hub of the ferry, so of course it's a propulsion problem, not a steering problem, as I for some reason referred to it. Think twice, type once, or however that goes.
And yes, my point is that if you look at some of the issues still at play at BCFS, they point to certain kinds of solutions. We all read it differently, of course: to me, it spells the need for more real-life maritime expertise, maybe brought in from one of the world's big, nimble ferry services. Someone who can do fuel hedging really aggressively and cut that expense line down as far as humanly possible, for example. Someone who understands what regular maintenance needs to look like, and says so. (I find the idea that ships are getting older and yet coming out of the water for routine maintenance, never mind refits, troubling.) Someone who understands the need to standardize parts, bridge equipment and layouts as much as possible, that sort of thing.
I guess overall, all you can hope when things go wrong is that you learn whatever lesson there is to be learned.
Anyway, my apologies for the error.
Chris Montgomery

[cmontgomery]

Oh dear. Just reread my post. How unintentionally hilarious.
What I meant to say is that I find the idea that ships are getting older but coming out of the water LESS OFTEN for maintenance and refits is troubling...
Think twice, write once, proofread twice.
Sorry.
Chris Montgomery

[glasseye]

Feb 11, 2012 18:12:43 GMT -8 cmontgomery said:

They're working on the propeller hub of the ferry, so of course it's a propulsion problem, not a steering problem, as I for some reason referred to it.

It's possible for it to be both a propulsion and steering problem. If the hub components are broken in such a way that the CPP system on that prop is inoperable, then the Burnaby will have much less steering authority than normal.

Twin shaft ships use differential CPP or differential RPM settings between the two shafts to maintain steerage at low speed.

[Low Light Mike]

I have a family member travelling to Powell River next week, so this is good news, assuming that it works out for the old ship....

Queen of Burnaby may return on Monday


Engineers have signed off on vessel
Published: Friday, February 17, 2012 4:38 PM PST

FERRY UPDATE – BC Ferries expects the Queen of Burnaby to return to service on the Powell River-Comox route on Monday, February 20.

Deborah Marshall, BC Ferries spokesperson, said late today (February 17) that the engineers had signed off on the vessel. “They’re ready to start flooding the dry dock tomorrow morning,” she said.

It takes about three and a half hours to flood the dry dock, so the vessel will be taken out for sea trials late morning or early afternoon, Marshall said.

Monday’s return will be confirmed after successful sea trials, she added.

If all goes well, the vessel will sail up to Departure Bay, arriving around 8 pm on Saturday. On Sunday, groceries will be brought on and the ship will be cleaned. The ship will sail up to Comox on Sunday night and will back in service first thing Monday morning.

When the Queen of Burnaby returns to service, the North Island Princess will return to the Powell River-Texada Island route. “Both of the regular schedules will be back first thing Monday morning, we expect,” Marshall said. “Everything is trending well.”

BC Ferries cancelled the 3:15 pm sailing from Comox and the 5:15 pm sailing from Powell River today due to high winds. As well, the company cancelled the additional sailings by the Tachek for the rest of the evening. The 6:05 pm sailing from Powell River and the 7:50 pm from Comox were cancelled.

However, the Tachek went back into service on the Powell River-Texada route.

The weather is expected to improve tonight, Marshall said, and the revised schedules on both the Powell River-Comox and Powell River-Texada routes will be in place on Saturday and Sunday, if no other issues arise.

The Queen of Burnaby, the usual vessel on the Powell River-Comox route, was pulled from service on Monday, February 6. BC Ferries replaced the Burnaby with the North Island Princess, the usual vessel on the Powell River-Texada route and put the Tachek on the Texada route.

However, all replacement vessels are much smaller than the usual vessels and there have been long line-ups and numerous overloads. BC Ferries decided to add extra sailings on the Powell River-Comox route using the Tachek and arranged water taxi service to and from Texada when the Tachek was on the Powell River-Comox route.

from here:
www.prpeak.com/articles/2012/02/17/news/doc4f3ef2de625ba694097211.txt

[Low Light Mike]

You won't find this information anywhere on the BCFS website, but Deborah Marshall is quoted in the Powell River Peak as saying that the 'Burrnaby's return is delayed 24-hours until Tuesday, because they couldn't re-flood the drydock today (because of high winds at Esquimalt).

So sea-trials are now postponed until Sunday.

....but please don't think that the BCFS website will keep you updated on this type of stuff. According to BCFS's website, the 'Burnaby is expected back late last week.

[Scott (Former Account)]

Queen of Burnaby is on the move... Currently off Pender Island, heading towards Active Pass at 13.6 knots.