Reliability doubts over new BC ferry

It has been rough sailing for the new pride of B.C. Ferry Services fleet, Coastal Renaissance, since departing from German shipbuilder Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaf’s shipyard earlier this year. The lead vessel in the three-ship Super C-class ferries, built at a total cost of $542 million, has been beset by problems since it started on its Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay run in March.

Somebody should have realized the ship was going to be problematic before its launch in September. Initially, the plan called for the Coastal Renaissance to depart following a grand goodbye celebration at the Flensburger shipyard. But the schedule had to be changed when tests determined the ferry’s two propeller hubs had a slight defect and the departure from Germany was delayed for a couple of weeks as the yard awaited new parts from Russia.

More recently, it is reported that the toilet systems aboard the boat have backed up on numerous occasions. Now kitchen staff, members of the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers Union, are complaining that excessive vibration is causing their thighs and hips to ache.

The ship has only been in operation for five months and there have already been two separate problems with the ship’s propellers, another incident of a blown fuse to the loading door on the lower car deck, the toilet system problem and now excessive vibration. The union wants the corporation to deal with the problem. It’s hardly the scenario the corporation painted when Coastal Renaissance first arrived in Nanaimo this spring.

B.C. Ferries chief operating officer Mike Corrigan said the smooth ride of the vessel would impress those aboard: “Passengers will really notice the quietness of the vessel.” At that time, it wasn’t expected Coastal Renaissance would have to be in drydock twice but the new ferry was in drydock for the third time last week for repairs which took it off its run for 24 hours because of a hydraulic leak.

According to B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall, three mechanical errors in five months is not unexpected. The first of the corporation’s Super C-class vessels has been bad luck for B.C. Ferries since its delayed launch. It arrived in Nanaimo’s Departure Bay, her home port, with a nine-metre ‘cosmetic dent’ in its hull, thanks to a run-in with a low concrete pier in the Panama Canal.

The second of the Super C-class ships, the Coastal Celebration, also underwent repairs this week. She won’t begin her duties servicing the Swartz Bay-Tsawwassen run until the fall. The Liberal government in Canada allowed the so-called “private” B.C. Ferry Services Inc. to buy these German-built ships despite outrage from local shipbuilders and union members who thought they should have been built here. It’s hard not to agree with BCMWU spokesman Richard Goode when he says the union has “great concerns with the ship. I don’t think it was designed right.”