Glen Clark News

B.C.'s second fast ferry was launched by Premier Glen Clark and Gordon Wilson, minister responsible for BC Ferries, in the company of more than 150 B.C. shipyard workers. "The workers on this project have once again done an absolutely magnificent job," said Clark. "I'm also pleased to see the productivity improvements in the second PacifiCat," said Clark. "I'm encouraged by the improvements in the construction schedule," said Wilson. "This bodes well for the B.C. shipbuilding industry's efforts to enter the international market. More than 600 direct shipbuilding jobs have been created by the PacifiCat project, as well as more than 500 indirect jobs in supporting industries.

The ex-Oriskany, a decommissioned aircraft carrier, was sunk 24 miles off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., on May 17 to form an artificial reef. The 888-foot ship took about 37 minutes to sink below the surface. After 25 years of service to the Navy in operations in Korea, Vietnam and the Mediterranean, ex-Oriskany will now benefit marine life, sport fishing and recreation diving off the coast of the Florida panhandle. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Jeffrey P. The ex-Oriskany, a decommissioned aircraft carrier, became the largest ship intentionally sunk as an artificial reef May 17 when it was sunk approximately 24 miles off the coast of Pensacola, Fla.

The future of a government program to revive western Canadian shipbuilding remains clouded after investigators released a damning report about cost overruns and bureaucratic bungling. The directors of the B.C. Ferries Corp. resigned after auditors alleged the cost of designing and building a new type of high-speed catamaran ferry had risen from the originally planned $137.9 million to approximately $288.9 million. The report was the latest bad news to buffet the Pacificat fast ferry project, which was launched in 1994 in hopes of developing and building a lightweight passenger ship in British Columbia that could be marketed internationally.