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Point Hope, B.C. Ferries sign five-year vessel servicing deal

B.C. Ferries has inked a five-year service agreement with Point Hope Maritime that could pump up to $40 million into the capital region’s economy and support shipyard jobs.
Point Hope Maritime
Mark Collins, BC Ferries President and CEO (far left), and Ian Maxwell, President and CEO Ralmax Group of Companies, owners of Point Hope Maritime (far right), oversee the signing of the contract by Mark Wilson, BC Ferries Vice President of Engineering (centre left), and Riccardo Regosa, General Manager Point Hope Maritime (centre right) .

B.C. Ferries has inked a five-year service agreement with Point Hope Maritime that could pump up to $40 million into the capital region’s economy and support shipyard jobs.

The agreement announced Friday will see the Vic West shipyard on Harbour Road perform regularly scheduled dry-docking, maintenance, repairs and emergency work on eight smaller ferries. B.C. Ferries has an overall fleet of 35 vessels.

“This five-year partnership will allow for operational and fiscal efficiencies that result from the certainty of establishing a scheduled service,” said Point Hope owner Ian Maxwell.

Point Hope has about 90 employees on the job and 30 to 40 contractors right now.

This week, it submitted an application for federal approvals required to build a $50-million graving dock. The facility would allow the yard to take on more business and potentially double its workforce by increasing its capacity and its ability to work on larger vessels of up to 560 feet long.

B.C. Ferries is already a customer for Point Hope, but now the shipyard has nailed down security with the long-term contract.

Vessels to be serviced are Kahloke, Klista, Kuper, Kwuna, Nicola, Nimpkish, Tachek and Quadra Queen II. They range from 110 to 235 feet long.

About 20 regularly scheduled refits are part of the Ferries-Point Hope deal. At a minimum, the contract would see Ferries spend between $15 million and $20 million, Ferries president Mark Wilson said Thursday.

“There’s probably potential for double that with the other ancillary work, which our own ship repair yard and other yards would still be able to compete on.”

When it is time for a ferry to go into drydock, other owners, such as the federal government, are able to book farther in advance and there isn’t always a place for a vessel, Wilson said.

This agreement will make the process more efficient and result in better economic stability, he said. It provides “security of the spaces so that we are not moving our refits around.”

Drydockings will be programmed into the operational fleet deployment plan, he said.

“We have a fixed price around the elements for the next five years, so every year when I go to budget, instead of an estimate, now I’ve got essentially a fixed cost that I build into my program.

“So there’s more stability and certainty and ultimately that leads to better fiscal management. It will actually save us dollars.”

Wilson is not aware of any previous multi-ship, multi-year arrangement between a shipyard and Ferries. “We are going to learn from this,” he said.