BC Ferries’ Newly Acquired Set Sail for BC
BC Ferries’ newly acquired vessel to replace the Queen of the North on the Inside Passage between Port Hardy and Prince Rupert officially set sail for her new home in B.C. on Saturday, November 18. The MV Sonia will be re-named when she arrives in B.C. in mid December. The vessel departed from Piraeus, Greece, early Saturday morning for her four-week voyage to Victoria, B.C. Under the command of Senior BC Ferries officers and crew, the vessel will travel via the Canary Islands and the Panama Canal before sailing up the west coast of North America. The 117 metre ship is scheduled to arrive in Victoria on December 18, 2006. BC Ferries acquired the two year old vessel in October and the 9,925 tonne ship will carry up to 600 passengers, 101 vehicles and has 70 cabins.
Victoria Shipyard Wins BC Ferry Retrofit Contract
BC Ferries announced that Victoria Shipyards has been awarded the $9m contract to perform major modification work on the replacement vessel for the Queen of the North. The vessel, currently named MV Sonia, is being painted in Greece and preparations for its transatlantic crossing are well underway, including engine modifications to enable the use of cleaner-burning marine diesel fuel. On November 15, 2006, a crew of BC Ferries’ employees is scheduled to sail the ship from Greece to British Columbia. En route, she will travel through the Panama Canal and is expected to arrive at Victoria Shipyards in mid-December. The vessel will be renamed and reflagged as a Canadian vessel. It will enter service on BC Ferries’ Port Hardy – Prince Rupert – Queen Charlotte Island routes in April 2007.
BC Ferries Takes Possession Vessel to Replace Queen of the North
BC Ferries announced that the acquisition of the MV Sonia for the Inside Passage route has been successfully concluded and the company has now taken possession of the vessel. The purchase price of the two-year old vessel was 34.5 million Euros or approximately $49.3 million Cdn. The ship is currently in Greece for painting and other work. It will undergo extensive modifications over the winter to improve customer amenities and meet safety requirements to operate in Canadian waters. BC Ferries is conducting a request for bid process involving local and international shipyards for the refit work. The shipyard that will perform the modifications to the ship will be selected by the end of October 2006. The vessel will be renamed and reflagged and is expected to enter service next spring.
T&T Looks for Fast Cargo Ferries
New tenders are being invited for one or two roll on/roll off passenger/cargo fast ferries to service the seabridge between Trinidad and Tobago, according to a Trinidad News report. Tenders close on November 30 at noon and would be opened the same day at 2 p.m. Additionally, the authority is inviting tenders for the wet lease of a similar ferry for a period from April next year, the time when the current six-month lease on The Cat expires. Tenders for this close at noon on Wednesday and would be publicly opened at 2 p.m. the same day. The authority had invited tenders for the purchase of a fast ferry earlier this year but the process was quashed because of interference, according to the report.
