B.C. Ferries increased earnings and passenger numbers in its latest financial quarter.
Earnings came in at $84.5 million for the three months ending Sept. 30. That’s up by 10.6 per cent from $76.4 million in the same period in 2014.
Bolstered by an increase in traffic, revenue rose by 2.9 per cent to $292.5 million in the latest quarter from $284.2 million a year ago.
The second quarter saw 7.1 million passengers and 2.6 million vehicles on more than 45,000 sailings on all of the company’s routes.
Operating expenses rose slightly, by 0.7 per cent, to $194 million, and capital expenditures came in at $28.7 million in the most recent quarter. Major projects included terminal construction, vessel upgrades and modifications, information technology investments and upgrades and equipment for terminals and buildings.
Ferries expects to spend more than $3 billion to replace older vessels and other assets in the next 12 years, Mike Corrigan, B.C. Ferries president and CEO, said Friday.
“Earnings are important so we can continue to invest in projects such as new fuel-efficient vessels and new technology systems that will offer customers opportunities for discounted fares at off-peak travel times, a model we are currently testing with our 50 per cent off vehicles promotion,” Corrigan said in a statement.
B.C. Ferries is heading into a slower season, a time when refits are completed. Some of that business has come to the capital region.
The Queen of Cumberland’s $18-million mid-life upgrade begins next week at the Esquimalt Dry Dock and is scheduled to be completed in April.
The corporation has officially taken ownership of the Baynes Sound Connector cable ferry that will service Buckley Bay and Denman Island starting in early February.
The Connector arrived off Vancouver Island’s east coast in August for trials.
“We are very pleased with the new cable ferry’s performance,” Corrigan said.
Cost savings of $80 million over its 40-year life are expected, compared with the existing service by the Quinitsa, which will continuing on the route until the Connector comes into service.
Built by Seaspan at its Vancouver Shipyards, the 258-foot ferry can carry 150 passengers and 50 vehicles. It will cross a distance of two kilometres, connected to three underwater cables.
Some area residents are concerned about bringing a cable ferry to that route, saying it will be unable to tack into the wind and meet waves head-on, and they fear that winds speeds have been underestimated.
Mark Wilson, B.C. Ferries vice-president of engineering, said the ferry has gone through tests and trials on the Baynes Sound waters. “I’m very satisfied with the rideability and the performance of the vessel in those wind and wave and current conditions. The vessel is designed to meet the 100-year wave, the 100-year current, and greater than the 100-year wind.”
B.C. Ferries it taking its time to ensure it can meet commitments to the public around safety and reliability, and that everything is 100 per cent in terms of the design, Wilson said.
The corporation will spend two months training crew. Transport Canada must certify the vessel. Emergency procedures will be practised. Further work includes adjustments to floating pontoons at the terminals.
Meanwhile, three new ferries are under construction in Poland, with delivery scheduled in 2016 and 2017. Their total cost is $165 million.
