• Sold for Peanuts

    Sold for Peanuts for Political Gain

     

    Kvaerner Masa Marine

    The following is the introduction segment taken from a report written by Kvaerner Masa Marine on the rehabilitation of the Fast Cats…

    REHABILITATE THE CATS

    INTRODUCTION

    The BC Ferry Corporation, on instruction from the BC Government, built 3 high-speed car-carrying catamarans for service between Horseshoe Bay and Departure Bay on Vancouver Island. This construction program was intended to stimulate shipbuilding in BC and meet the capital replacement needs of the Corporation. The vessels, however, did not meet operational requirements and have been withdrawn from service and offered for sale internationally.

    This decision, however, may not be in the public or BC Ferry Corporations’ best interests as the vessels could serve residents, tourists and commercial vehicle operators very efficiently for many years.

    Indeed cats have many lives.

    It appears than only a few options have been offered to date for the use of the catamarans.

    These include:

    1. Sell to a third party. This option has produced no apparent results and fair market value will not be obtained,

    2. Re-power with gas turbines to realise higher speeds. This option is capital intensive  and would produce even higher operating costs given the current high price of fuel,

    3. Reduce speed of operation to about 22 knots and operate the vessels, with some interior modifications on the originally intended route. This alternative, apparently the BCFC’s fall-back position would provide supplementary summer service for passenger vehicles only -  Operational costs remain high, vessels are not optimised, but this option is preferable to the other two.

    But there is a fourth and much better option, that is to give the Cats a new life. This would entail modifying the catamaran to carry all types of traffic, increase overall vehicle capacity, effect passenger space improvements and reduce operating costs. All of these can be achieved with the three new catamaran ferries.

    Importantly, the private sector has indicated a strong willingness to be involved in such a plan, providing capital to purchase and lease the vessel, effect modifications and provide long-term, cost effective maintenance. From a risk management perspective, this is an exceptional opportunity for government and the BC Ferry Corporation.

    It is also critically important to consider the only other alteinative available to BCFC to meet its capital replacement needs. By any standard, a passenger-vehicle ferry with capacity for 800 passengers and 250 to 300 vehicles would cost $65 to $95 million (Can.) or the Corporation could purchase or charter used tonnage world-wide, but face duty charges and high cost of conversion and maintenance of older ships. These are not good options.

    Accordingly, it is our strong belief that we should use what we have, namely the three PacifiCats and, with private sector partnership, make the modifications necessary to guarantee successful operations.

    The purpose of this paper is to detail that option for the new Government of British Columbia – because that option is the best option…Read the rest of the report by clicking here.

    Another Survey was completed by John J. McMullen & Associates (JJMA)

     ”In general, JJMA concludes that the vessel is a fine ship, one of which any owner should be proud. The vessel is of “Good” quality throughout. There are outstanding issues which must be resolved.”

    The following was taken from Wikipedia regarding JJMA –

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_J._McMullen_&_Associates

     

    John J. McMullen & Associates (JJMA) was an engineering firm in theUnited States specializing in naval architecture and marine engineering focused on the field of naval ship design. Founded in 1957, JJMA quickly grew in size, with offices inAlexandria,Virginia,New York,New York, and other locations in majorU.S. cities. JJMA’s main customers included the U.S. Navy, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, and several commercial shipbuilders and operators. In 1998 JJMA became employee-owned. JJMA was purchased by McLean, Virginia-based Alion Science and Technology in 2005, and is now Alion’s JJMA Maritime Sector division. It was founded by John McMullen, a 1940 graduate of theUnited StatesNavalAcademy.

    Update:

    The three fast ferries were sold to Abu Dhabi Mar, a yacht-building company based in the United Arab Emirates.

    http://www.abudhabimargroup.com/

    This story is far from over…