October 27, 2014 – Ottawa – Transport Canada
The Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Transport and the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Public Works and Government Services, today announced that the Government of Canada has entered into an agreement for the purchase of a ferry vessel to replace the MV Princess of Acadia, which serves the Saint John, New Brunswick to Digby, Nova Scotia ferry route.
A purchase agreement was signed on October 10, 2014 to acquire the MV Blue Star Ithaki from a private ferry operator located in Greece at a cost of approximately $31 million EURO ($44.6 million CAN).
On November 27, 2013, the Government of Canada issued a Public Notice for the planned purchase of an existing ferry on buyandsell.gc.ca. Following an extensive evaluation process, which involved identifying and assessing the suitability of candidate vessels from all over the world, including Canada, the MV Blue Star Ithaki was selected as representing the best value for Canadians and having the capacity to meet the operational requirements of the Saint John-Digby ferry service. The vessel’s introduction into service is expected in 2015.
Upon arrival of the vessel in Canada, modifications will need to be made for the vessel to meet Canadian safety regulations and compatibility with existing shore-based infrastructure and operation in the Bay of Fundy.
“Our government understands the importance of this ferry service to the local community and economy in support of regional trade and tourism. This replacement vessel will ensure the continued safe, reliable and efficient operation of the service while creating jobs and supporting the local economy.”
The Honourable Lisa Raitt
Minister of Transport“The Harper government is committed to support communities across Canada. This is why I am delighted to announce that the replacement for the MV Princess of Acadia was successfully acquired through a fair and open process that ensured the best value for Canadian taxpayers.”
The Honourable Diane Finley
Minister of Public Works and Government Services
Read more.
Vancouver Sun - October 22, 2014
Canadian ferries give safe service
Six months have passed since the sinking of the MV Sewolin off the South Korean coast that saw about 450 people lose their lives. This tragedy affected everyone — not just in Korea but also in the wider marine community.
While it is not for us to make assumptions on what happened, it is important to also reflect on Canada’s record.
We are pleased to note that, as reported by the Transportation Safety Board, there were no ferry accidents resulting in fatalities in the past seven years. (Editor’s note: Two passengers died when the Queen of the North ran aground in 2006, eight years ago.)
Accidents resulting in injuries keep diminishing. As far as we can recollect, there were no major incidents involving dangerous goods aboard ferries in Canada. It is in good part due to the training provided to employees, the processes put in place by ferry operators, Canadian regulations administered by Transport Canada and the dedication of everyone involved.
With over 47 million passengers, 18 million vehicles, over 20,000 jobs and billions of dollars of goods transported annually, the ferry sector in Canada is a safe and crucial part of our transportation infrastructure.
SERGE BUY, CEO, Canadian Ferry Association
Read more, click here.
The Canadian Ferry Association is pleased to welcome aboard Envirolin as our newest Industry Participant member.
Today, CFA's CEO Serge Buy appeared as a witness at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities as part of their review of the Canadian Transportation Safety Regime: Transportation of Dangerous Goods and Safety Management Systems.
Read the transcript here.
September 30, 2014
Québec, Québec
Check against delivery
Thank you for inviting me to join you today.
As a former president and CEO of the Toronto Port Authority, I value the opportunity to connect with people in the marine transportation community and talk about issues affecting their work.
In my current role as Minister of Transport, I spend a lot of time travelling across the country speaking to stakeholders as well as average Canadians about their priorities and how government can better serve them.
My department also annually surveys ferry operators in Canada, to get an accurate picture of the industry and its role in our economy.
And of course I’m here today to both tell you what I’ve been doing and to hear your concerns.
I grew up by the sea on Cape Breton Island. And anyone who comes from near a coast or waterway knows the important role that ferries play in the life and the economies of communities in these regions.
Ferries transport travellers – both local and visiting – and they move vehicles and goods throughout these regions.
Of course, Transport Canada is quite immersed in ferry transportation in Atlantic Canada.
We own four vessels and six terminals that are leased to private operators and last year, we announced the government’s intention to replace the MV Princess of Acadia.
This past summer, I was pleased to announce that our government had renewed its commitment to continue operation of the ferry services between:
While we are quite open about our aim to promote privately-operated ferry services across this country, we realize the need for government support in some regions. This continued investment will ensure safe, reliable and efficient operation of these ferry services.
But our focus on ferry services goes well beyond the Atlantic region. We need safe and efficient transportation in all of Canada and we are fortunate to have ferry services in many regions across the country.
In fact, when I was CEO of the Toronto Port Authority, I dealt with those of you who manage and operate services in that region.
Supporting our ferry services is one way to support prosperity across this great nation.
The numerous services that operate across Canada move both people and goods, connecting people while also supporting local economies.
In fact, since 2006, the federal government has invested more than 1.5 billion dollars to support its ferry service commitments in some regions of this country.
This investment not only helps ferries to serve transport, trade and tourism. It supports various initiatives to maintain the safety, security and efficiency of marine transportation.
And as some of you already know, last year, Prime Minister Harper announced a major project not far from where we are today: the redesign of the Lévis ferry sector. This project will favour the development of parks and green spaces and will transform this urban sector into an open and dynamic area.
As part of the project, we will also redesign the Paquet and de l’Esplanade wharves and transform Lévis’ intermodal terminal – the former maritime station – into a welcome area and interpretation centre.
One way we work to keep track of ferry operations and maintain their safety is through regulations that apply to all vessels in Canada.
For example, we are modernizing our Vessel Fire Safety Regulations to reduce the risk of fires or explosions on vessels.
We also plan to modernize our life saving and inspection regulations to better match recognized international standards.
And we are amending our Vessel Registry Fees, Vessel Registration and Tonnage Regulations.
As well, the Regulations Amending the Marine Transportation Security Regulationsare now in effect. They require that all vessel personnel must hold a certificate of proficiency.
They also further harmonize our marine security regulations with those in the United States, address outstanding regulatory gaps contained in existing regulations and reduce administrative burdens for Canadian-flagged vessels travelling in this country.
But despite these initiatives, there are many other challenging factors we must address to regulate ferry operation in Canada.
For example, we must maintain high standards for how people – especially those with mobility concerns – can exit a vessel in an emergency.
We must work to minimize the environmental impact that vessels have on the marine environments in which they travel.
And we must recognize the challenges that small-scale ferry operators face in terms of operating costs and record management.
Our regulation of marine transportation aims to maintain its safety and efficiency, but also to benefit the regional transport, trade and tourism industries that rely on it.
But safety is particularly important to me, so I want to focus on it for a few minutes.
As Minister, safety is not only one of my priorities, it is my top priority. And our government is committed to doing everything we can to make all modes of transportation safer in Canada.
We do so because we must support and protect Canadian families, communities and the people who work in transportation.
But we also do so because we must be able to maintain our reputation as a country with safe, reliable and professional transportation.
One way Transport Canada is working to strengthen safety in marine transportation, is through a Concentrated Inspection Campaign.
The 2014 campaign is a pilot that will help form the future of our inspection program.
Its focus is to assess and ensure the presence of proper lifesaving and firefighting equipment and practices on medium and small passenger vessels.
It is addressing areas of marine transportation where inspectors have found a high number of vessels that are not complying with our standards or where new requirements have recently entered into force.
Our aim is not simply to have a series of checklists for inspectors assessing marine vessels. Rather, we are working to develop a consistent approach that applies to all vessels across Canada.
Our ultimate goal is for vessel owners to have the right equipment and practices in place to maintain safety.
And we want them to understand the need to carry out boat and fire drills, passenger counts, and to address any concerns regarding passengers with special needs.
To strengthen our approach to this, Transport Canada has consulted with the Transportation Safety Board.
We are doing so to ensure concerns raised by TSB investigations regarding passenger vessels are incorporated into our inspections.
I should also note our Statutory Inspection Program, which allows classification societies to enter into formal agreements with Transport Canada to complete inspection and certification functions on our behalf.
There are currently four such suppliers and we are working to allow more.
By using these groups to carry out inspection and certification services, we are working to streamline our certification program, so it can best focus its resources on the regions and marine vessels that pose the greatest risk.
I think we can all understand the need to maintain a strong standard of safety on all marine vessels.
As the regulator, we have introduced a world-class tanker safety system. An important component of that system was the establishment of an Incident Command System in the Canadian Coast Guard.
With its clear roles, responsibilities and decision making hierarchies, the Coast Guard is able to respond faster to any incidents and positively contribute to the safety of all mariners and vessels, not just tankers.
We are removing the liability limit of the Ship-Source Oil pollution fund to ensure that polluters bear 100% of the costs of cleanup and we have expanded the National Aerial Surveillance Program flight hours by 55% to keep a watchful eye on tankers moving through Canadian waters.
We want to focus not solely on what happens after a spill or accident but on how we can entrench policies and habits that prevent them. We ensure every single foreign tanker entering Canadian water is thoroughly protected. We are in the process of developing a state-of-the-art navigation system to ensure accident prevention.
I hope that vessel operators can understand the attention we must pay to items such as lifesaving and fire safety equipment.
Our government understands the importance of ferry services and the need for our involvement in their operations.
This will allow us to help maintain the ferry industry’s numerous contributions to Canada.
And it will help the entire marine transportation sector to support growth, create jobs and promote prosperity, both here and across our country.
A safe and efficient marine transportation sector – including the ferry vessels – will help us to achieve these goals.
So I commend all of you for your efforts to uphold the high standards of the ferry industry in Canada.
Thank you again for inviting me.
Read more, click here.
CBC - September 30, 2014
Five children and two adults spent nearly half an hour in frigid water off the northern tip of B.C.'s Galiano Island after their fishing boat overturned around 8:30 p.m. PT Monday.
All seven were transported to the Sea Island Station in Richmond, where they were treated for moderate hypothermia by B.C. Ambulance and released.
The massive rescue response was launched after the 10-metre gillnetter issued a mayday to report the vessel was sinking in Georgia Strait near the entrance of Porlier Pass, located between Valdez and Galiano islands.
BC Ferries spokesman Darin Guenette says the Spirit of Vancouver Island was leaving Active Pass en route to Tsawwassen when it was diverted, while the Queen of Cowichan was diverted from its trip to Horseshoe Bay. The Canadian Coast Guard hovercraft Siyay was dispatched and two BC Ferries vessels were diverted to respond to the call.
They were joined by two coast guard auxiliary vessels, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter and a lifeboat from Ganges, B.C., on Saltspring Island.
Ron MacDougall, acting sub-lieutenant with the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria, said the hovercraft arrived first to find the vessel still floating, but it was sinking. He says it looked as if the boat had overturned and the survivors were clinging to the hull.
"Basically how I understand it is that they just clung on board, to the bottom of the vessel," he said.
"I think the vessel overturned and they clung onto it for 25 minutes, which is quite amazing, and it's a great end to what could have been a very tragic story."
September 22, 2014
VICTORIA – BC Ferries plans to convert its two largest vessels, the Spirit of Vancouver Island and the Spirit of British Columbia, to dual fuel, as well as make modifications to the hull, in order to save approximately $9.2 million per year (in today’s dollars) over the remaining 27-year life cycle of the two vessels. The conversion is part of an application the company submitted today to the BC Ferries Commissioner for approval to proceed with mid-life upgrades of the vessels.
The plans come on the heels of a BC Ferries announcement in July 2014 to build three intermediate-class dual fuel vessels for delivery in the years 2016 to 2017. BC Ferries expects total savings from LNG for the five vessels to be approximately $12.0 million per year (in today’s dollars), based on current fuel price estimates, which will significantly reduce upward pressure on fares.
“We are well aware that fare affordability is a concern for our customers and operating on LNG, which is approximately 50 per cent cheaper than marine diesel, is a game changer for BC Ferries,” said Mike Corrigan, BC Ferries’ President and CEO. “We’ve been driving a culture of cost containment in many areas of our business without compromising safety and we are moving forward with LNG conversions, which will help us realize significant environmental benefits and enormous financial savings on our fuel bill.”
BC Ferries spent $126 million on fuel last fiscal year and the two Spirit-Class vessels consumed approximately 15 per cent of the fleet total. These vessels are the largest consumers of fuel in the BC Ferries fleet and the conversion will reduce their cost of fuel by approximately half.
The Spirit-Class vessels operate on the Tsawwassen – Swartz Bay route, which carried 28 per cent of total passengers, 23 per cent of total vehicles and generated 38 per cent of total passenger-based revenue in fiscal 2014. The Spirit-Class mid-life upgrade projects will carry out regulatory requirements; renew end- of-life systems; substantially reduce fuel costs by the conversion of the propulsion to dual fuel; implement hull, electrical and passenger service modifications; and increase ancillary services net income.
In addition to reducing fuel costs with LNG, the projects will implement measures to reduce fuel consumption. A new low friction underwater coating will reduce hull drag, reducing total fuel consumption by approximately 2.9 per cent. Also, the existing hull design, based on hydrodynamic principles from the 1980’s, will be modified at the bow and stern to further reduce drag. As a result, drag is expected to be further reduced which will further lower fuel consumption by up to 1.8 per cent. These fuel efficiency initiatives are expected to generate $650,000 of the fuel savings annually.
BC Ferries is planning for the Spirit of Vancouver Island’s mid-life upgrade and LNG conversion from the fall of 2016 through the spring of 2017. The Spirit of British Columbia’s project is planned to occur from the fall of 2017 through the spring of 2018. Requests for contractor bids would be forthcoming.
Under Section 55 of the Coastal Ferry Act, BC Ferries must not incur a major capital expenditure without first obtaining approval for the expenditure from the BC Ferries Commissioner. The Commissioner will make a ruling within 60 days.
Under contract to the Province of British Columbia, BC Ferries is the service provider responsible for the delivery of safe, efficient and dependable ferry service along coastal British Columbia.
This year, the Canadian Ferry Association participated in the federal government's 2014 Pre-Budget Consultations.
To read CFA's submission, please click here.
We’re happy to announce that CFA’s Conference 2014 app is now ready to download. The app includes:
The app can be downloaded for free from the app store.
Available for iPhone/iPad (iOS), Android and Blackberry 10.
If you downloaded the app for last year’s conference, simply click “refresh” under settings, and the information will be updated.
Sept 4, 2014
CBC: Newfoundland crew 'lucky' to be alive after boat sinks off Cape Breton
Todd Kearley, skipper of the Bradley Venture, thanks Canadian Coast Guard, ferry for quick rescue
A Newfoundland skipper says he and his two crew members are very lucky to be alive after their boat started to sink off the coast of Cape Breton.
The fishermen were on their way to a fish plant in North Sydney Wednesday afternoon when they started to take on water.
Todd Kearley, the skipper of the Bradley Venture, says the strong wind and wave conditions were too much to save the vessel.
They then called for help and jumped into a life raft.
Kearley says he's had a few close calls over the course of his life but this one ranks "pretty well up there."
He says he's glad to have had a cell phone in the life raft to keep in contact with the rescue centre. He says after his many years at sea and close calls, having a cell phone ready in a plastic bag is a good idea.
He says it was a tense hour or so waiting for rescue.
"We were just so lucky that the cooler off the boat floated by the life raft. We decided to grab the cooler because we were all thirsty after working like dogs to keep ‘er afloat. … We were smoking cigarettes, talking about how lucky we were," says Kearley.
Herb Nash, a fisherman and member of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary, was part of the rescue team, along with the Marine Atlantic ferry MV Highlanders.
The ferry blocked the wind while Nash and his crew hauled the men aboard the vessel.
Nash says when he arrived only a few feet of the fishermen's boat was still above water.
"I'm glad that the three of them were rescued, no one got hurt. I know they lost everything they own there but, you know, we got them to shore and gave them some dry clothes to put on them and gave them a pair of shoes — none of them had shoes or anything on, they had [survival] suits on. ... We gave them something to eat and then drove them to the ferry," says Nash.
Since they had to leave in such a hurry, Kearley says only one of the men had his wallet when they jumped into the life raft.
Kearley says Nash forced him to take $150 to help with expenses for the ferry trip from Cape Breton to Newfoundland.
"He wouldn't take no money for gas from us," says Kearley.
"He’s a good man, I can tell you that. I told him ‘You know Herb, we've got a bit of money there in a bank account,’ and he says ‘If you don’t take this money from me, I’m not going to be a very happy man.’ We could have done without, but we did need it, I just don’t like to feel like a burden on anybody."
It's not clear why the boat started to leak.
The three fishermen have safely returned to Newfoundland.
"They were in good shape. They were a bit nervous and that because of the fog and the sea picking up and they were just after losing the boat. They were a bit nervous over it all but they were happy they got on the boat, that's for sure. They couldn't thank us enough when we picked them up," says Nash.
Read more, click here.