BC Ferries plans to add seven new large vessels to its fleet

BC Ferries has announced plans to add seven large hybrid diesel-electric vessels to its fleet and upgrade the Queen of Oak Bay and Queen of Surrey to extend their service life, in what could be the company’s largest ship investment in history.

Initially, the company intends to order five large ships, with the first to be delivered by 2029 and the remaining four to enter service by 2031. In the second phase, the last two large ships would be added around 2037.

The company has not disclosed expected costs, but in 2018, when BC Ferries first announced plans to order five large ships, the cost was estimated at $700 million to $1 billion. That construction project has been sidelined by the pandemic.

BC Ferries had previously put out a tender for qualified shipyards to build the vessels, with a shortlist of local, national and international companies among those shortlisted.

A tender for the design and construction of large-ship class ferries was announced on Monday.

Before any contracts can be signed, the company must seek approval from BC Ferries Commissioner Eva Hage, who has 60 days to respond.

The company said that if the project is approved, contracts would be awarded next spring.

BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez said in a statement that adopting a phased strategy will allow the company to “responsibly increase capacity and resilience while carefully managing our investments to minimize pricing pressures on customers.”

It also provides flexibility to refine the final two units based on lessons learned from initial designs and operational results, he added.

Each of the larger ships will be able to carry 2,100 passengers and crew, as well as 360 standard-size vehicles, similar to the two Spirit-class ships currently in service.

BC Ferries said its ferries will be among the world’s largest double-ended ferries, featuring significantly improved energy efficiency and propulsion systems designed for future flexibility and environmentally friendly, sustainable operation.

The design of the new large units was carried out in cooperation with LMG Marin, a naval architecture and ship design company.

They will replace retiring ships including Queen of Alberni in October 2029, Queen of Coquitlam in September 2030, Queen of New Westminster in October 2030 and Queen of Cowichan in October 2031.

BC Ferries expects the Queen of Surrey and Queen of Oak Bay to be retired from service after 2035 following their modernisation.

Ed Hooper, executive director of shipbuilding for BC Ferries, said the new ships will be quieter and cleaner than the vessels they replace, “allowing us to achieve significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions across our business.”

The company said the new ships will be powered by biofuel and renewable diesel right away, and once the infrastructure for electric ships is ready, they could be fully converted to battery-electric ships.

BC Ferries said it will minimise emissions by using biofuel and renewable diesel as it prepares to transition to all-electric operations.

Hooper said the new ships will also help reduce wait times at terminals. Adding “another vessel to the fleet will bring the number of vessels on BC Ferries’ main routes to 12, which will help us keep up with customer demand and projected population growth along the coast.”

Reliability has been and remains a top priority for BC Ferries.

In the summer of 2023, the plans of thousands of passengers were disrupted by engine problems on Coastal-class ferries.

The Queen of New Westminster was recently decommissioned after one of its propellers broke off and sank to the seabed as the ship was departing Tsawwassen earlier this month.

The ship is expected to be out of service for repairs for at least six months.

BC Ferries said its ships carried more than eight million passengers and more than three million vehicles between June 1 and Aug. 31.

The report said that without new ships, demand will exceed capacity on major routes by 2035, meaning longer waits for ferries

Hage asked the public for comments on the proposal and said he would be hiring consultants to help the commissioner’s office review the proposal over the next two months “because it is generally very technical.”

One company will handle most of the review, but it is possible that other experts will be involved, she added.

The review examined the criteria the Authority must consider under the Coastal Ferries Act when considering capital expenditures in excess of $50 million.

Hage will make a decision based on whether BC Ferries’ proposal is reasonable, prudent and consistent with the ferry services agreement between the province and the company.

During that time, the commissioner may ask BC Ferries additional questions. “They’re very helpful,” Hage said.

Provincial regulations require a response within 60 days but do not require a decision to be made within that time frame.

But Hage said the goal is to make a decision within 60 days. “We recognize they need certainty about the market.”

For several years, BC Ferries has been moving toward standard designs for certain classes of ferries, such as the smaller Island- and Salish-class vessels, saying this allows the company to move vessels between routes for maintenance or refurbishment without disrupting customer journeys.

Existing larger vessels include the three Coastal-class ferries, two Spirit-class ferries and the Queen of New Westminster, which is a Victoria-class ferry.

If the project is approved, bidding for the construction of the new large vessel will be open internationally, as was the case with previous tenders for ferries built in Germany, Romania and Poland.

The last time a shipyard in British Columbia produced large ships was the Spirit of British Columbia and Spirit of Vancouver Island, which were built in two parts in 1993 and 1994 by Allied Shipyards in North Vancouver and Integrated Ferry of Esquimalt.

The three Coastal-class ships, Inspiration, Renaissance and Celebration, were built in Germany in 2007 and 2008. Each can carry 1,604 passengers and crew and 310 cars. The total cost of building these ferries exceeded $500 million.

Canada has seen a decline in the number of ferries being built in recent years, partly due to a shortage of suitable shipyards, lack of access to a skilled workforce and competition from international bidders.

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