Don’t worry — they’re not lost.
If you spot the Spirit of Vancouver Island and the Spirit of British Columbia in Saanich Inlet this week, it’s because they’re doing sea trials to demonstrate their performance for the three shipyards bidding for their mid-life upgrades.
The upgrades will include conversion to dual-fuel capacity, meaning the ships will be able to operate on liquefied natural gas or diesel.
“But we would want to operate them on LNG, because it’s much cheaper and it’s cleaner-burning fuel,” said B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall. “With the dual fuel, it gives you the option.”
During sea trials in the out-of-the-way location, Coastal Celebration and Queen of New Westminster are doing replacement duty on the Swartz Bay-Tsawwassen route. Sailings have been added because those vessels are smaller.
The trials, which began Monday and run until Thursday, will test such things as manoeuvrability, acceleration and speed.
Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards, Poland’s Remontowa SA and Fincantieri of Italy are the three bidders. Negotiations with B.C. Ferries will continue for the next three months, with a contract expected to be awarded in early 2016.
Measuring and verifying vessel performance through sea trials is an important part of the bidding process, said Mark Wilson, B.C. Ferries vice-president of engineering.
B.C. Ferries’ plan calls for Spirit of British Columbia, built in 1993, to be the first vessel to be worked on, from the fall of 2017 through the spring of 2018, putting it out of service for about seven months.
Spirit of Vancouver Island, built in 1994, would follow, undergoing work from the fall of 2018 to the spring of 2019.
Marshall said it’s critical that both ferries go back into service before the end of June in 2018 and 2019, so they are available during the busy summer months.
