Canadian line will choose between Remontowa, Seaspan Vancouver Shipyard and Fincantieri
By
Rebecca Gibson |
BC Ferries has shortlisted three shipyards to carry out mid-life upgrades and engine conversions on its two largest vessels, Spirit of Vancouver Island and Spirit of British Columbia.
Over the next three to five months, BC Ferries will negotiate with British Columbia-based Seaspan Vancouver Shipyards, Polish yard Remontowa and Italian yard Fincantieri to select the final bidder.
Expected to be chosen this autumn, the successful yard will then carry out a mid-life upgrade on both Spirit-class ferries and will also convert them to dual-fuel so they can run on LNG fuel, saving around CAD9.2 million per year over their remaining 27-year lifecycles.
Originally, BC Ferries planned to carry out work on the Spirit of Vancouver Island between autumn 2016 and spring 2017, and complete the Spirit of British Columbia project the following year. However, the operator deferred the project for a year to ensure sufficient equipment procurement lead times and gain detailed engineering and regulatory approvals.
Now, Spirit of British Columbia is expected to enter drydock in autumn 2017 and rejoin the fleet in spring 2018, while Spirit of Vancouver Island will undergo the same process between autumn 2018 and spring 2019.
“Due to the complexity of this major project, we need more time for engineering design to ensure we meet our own high standards for delivering major capital projects on-time and onbudget,” said Mark Wilson, BC Ferries’ vice president of Engineering. “The Spirit-Class vessels are our biggest assets operating on the Tsawwassen – Swartz Bay route, which is the busiest route in the fleet and these ships are critical to our operation so project management and risk mitigation are extremely important.”