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Oct 13
0

BC Ferries: More ships, more service

By | 2022 Newsletter week 41 | No Comments

Modernization and replacement of vessels, terminals and IT systems are the centrepieces of BC Ferries’ Performance Term Six submission provided to the BC Ferries Commissioner recently for rate determination activities.

The 12-Year Capital Plan responds to anticipated passenger and vehicle growth and changing customer needs. It includes:

  • Building 7 new major vessels to replace 6 existing ships, and an incremental vessel to support growth and improve resiliency
  • Building 4 more Island Class vessels to improve capacity on inter-island routes
  • 2 new Island Class to serve the Crofton – Salt Spring Island route
  • 1 new Island Class to serve the Quadra Island – Cortes Island route
  • 1 new Island Class to serve as a relief vessel and allow for the redeployment of existing vessels to support growth on several routes.

In addition to investments included in the 12-Year Capital Plan, BC Ferries is planning customer enhancements including:

  • Expanding two-ship operation on the Horseshoe Bay – Langdale route during peak season to increase sailing frequency.
  • Increasing sailing frequency between Nanaimo and Metro Vancouver to better support changing travel patterns.
  • Providing an additional sailing each week in peak season between Prince Rupert and Haida Gwaii.
  • Deploying a second vessel on the Swartz Bay – Salt Spring Island route in peak season.
  • Deploying a larger vessel on the Denman Island – Hornby Island route in peak season.
https://www.bcferrycommission.ca/
Jun 30
0

BC Ferries full year results: everything up, but still not to pre-pandemic

By | 2022 Newsletter week 26 | No Comments

BC Ferries: traffic, revenue, net earnings and expenditures are all up, however the financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022 (fiscal 2022) are still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels.

Key figures (full year, ending March 31, 2022)

+37% passengers (17.9 million) (but still 20% lower than pre-COVID fiscal 2019)

+26% vehicles (8.5 million) (but still 5% lower than pre-COVID fiscal 2019)

+12% Revenue $965.4 million

+11% Operating $868.0 million (increases in the number of sailings, staff required to provide more service, fuel and maintenance expenses.

BC Ferries experienced a net loss of $68.2 million prior to recognizing Safe Restart Funding. After recognizing $102.3 million of this federal-provincial funding, net earnings were $34.1 million, an increase of $13.1 million compared to the previous year, which included $186.0 million in Safe Restart Funding.

In December 2020, BC Ferries received $308 million through the Safe Restart Program, a federal-provincial initiative intended to help provinces and territories safely restart their economies.  Assistance to the public transportation sector, including BC Ferries, has been a critical part of the BC Safe Restart Plan. Without this funding, BC Ferries would have recorded a total loss of $233.2 million over the past two years ($68.2 million in fiscal 2022 and $165.0 million in fiscal 2021).

The operating relief component of the Safe Restart Funding BC Ferries received has now been exhausted. The company does not foresee the need for any further COVID relief funding.

Jun 16
0

LMG Marin to make the concept design for the new BC Ferries “Major Class”

By | 2022 Newsletter week 23 | No Comments

LMG Marin has been selected by BC Ferries as design agent for its new Major class vessels.

The first stage of the project will soon start with the overall goal to achieve a zero-emission design by use of proven technology. This concept design will be later further finetuned into a basic design and a specification package that will be used for contracting the new ships at a yard.

The new Major Class ferries are expected to be operational by 2029.

Feb 24
4

BC Ferries Q3: ferry traffic continues to recover from the impact of the pandemic

By | 2022 Newsletter week 8 | No Comments

Q3 2021

2 million vehicles = +26% (compared to Q3 2020) = -2% (compared to Q3 2019)

4.1 million pax = +43% (compared to Q3 2020) = -14% (compared to Q3 2019)

Year-to-date

6.7 million vehicles = +26%

14.2 million passengers = 34%

Q3 ending December 31, 2021 in CAD

Net loss -1.6 million (98.5 million) primarily as a result of the timing of recognition of ‘Safe Restart Funding’

Revenue 222.2 million (311.9 million)

Without the recognition of ‘Safe Restart Funding’ in both periods, revenues would have been 203.0 million, an increase of $45.9 million compared to the same period in the prior year.

Operating expenses were 209.5 million (199.0 million). This increase is due mainly to providing more round trips and higher fuel prices.

Year-to-date since April 1, 2021, net earnings were $83.0 million compared to $74.3 million in the same period in the prior year primarily as a result of higher traffic volumes and net retail sales, partially offset by lower ‘Safe Restart Funding’ applied to the current year and higher operating expenses.

More details
Sep 09
4

AS Tallink Grupp Statistics for August 2021

By | 2021 Newsletter week 36 | No Comments

In August 2021 AS Tallink Grupp transported

-14.1% passengers = 389,715

-3.4% cargo units = 28,790

-18.1% passenger vehicles = 78,193

COVID-19 related travel restrictions were the key operational factor influencing the developments in August 2021.

  • Estonia – Finland: August results reflect shuttle and cruise ferry services. Cargo vessel SEA WIND did not operate in August
  • Estonia – Sweden: August results reflect operations of one cruise ferry and cargo ferries on Estonia-Sweden routes.
  • Finland – Sweden: August results reflect operations of Turku-Stockholm and Helsinki-Stockholm routes. Cruise ferry SILJA SERENADE started operations on the Helsinki-Stockholm route at the beginning of August and cruise ferry SILJA SYMPHONY from late August. The segment statistics also reflect the Swedish domestic cruises.
  • Latvia – Sweden: Operations of the Riga-Stockholm route were suspended.
Sep 09
4

BC Ferries’ Fifth Island Class Ferry Prepares for Final Leg of Journey to B.C.

By | 2021 Newsletter week 36 | No Comments

BC Ferries’ newest hybrid electric ship transited the Panama Canal over the weekend and is now preparing for its trip home to British Columbia. Island 5, as it is temporarily named, departed Romania on July 31 under its own power. BC Ferries expects the ship to be in B.C. by late-September, depending on weather.

Together, Island 5 and Island 6 will allow for two-ship service on the Nanaimo Harbour – Gabriola Island route starting in 2022.

Aug 26
4

BC Ferries: Traffic Showing Signs of Improvement while Pandemic Continued to Impact Q1 Results

By | 2021 Newsletter week 34 | No Comments

Q1 results for the three months ended June 30, 2021

+37% cars compared to Q1, 2020 and -27% compared to Q1, 2019 (pre-Covid)

+40% passengers compared to Q1, 2020 and -46% compared to Q1, 2019 (pre-Covid)

Revenues increased $91.8 million, primarily as a result of the Safe Restart Funding, increases in traffic volumes and net retail sales.

Net earnings were $4.7 million, an increase of $66.7 million compared to a net loss of $62.0 million in the same period in the prior year.

In December 2020, BC Ferries received $308 million through the Safe Restart Program, a federal-provincial initiative intended to help provinces and territories safely restart their economies.

Safe Restart Funding of $60.0 million was applied towards BC Ferries’ operating losses in the three months ended June 30, 2021. Without the Safe Restart Funding of $60.0 million, revenues in this period would have been $169.2 million and net losses would have been $55.3 million.

The company continues to modernize the fleet with four more battery-electric hybrid Island Class vessels and one more LNG-fuelled Salish Class vessel.

Capital expenditures in this quarter totalled $38.7 million and included new vessels, major overhauls and inspections, marine ramp structure upgrades, hardware upgrades and various other projects.

Aug 26
4

BC Ferries Revealed the Names of its Third and Fourth Island Class Ferries

By | 2021 Newsletter week 34 | No Comments

ISLAND NAGALIS and ISLAND K’ULUT’A are the newest vessels to enter the fleet, allowing two-ship service to begin on the Campbell River – Quadra Island route in 2022.

The names celebrate the important connection to some of the coastal communities the ferries will serve. In both Kwak̓wala and Lik̓wala, two of the Kwakwaka’wakw dialects, Nagalis means “dawn on the land” and K’ulut’a is the name for Porpoise.

Island Class ferries have the capacity to carry 47 vehicles and up to 400 passengers and crew. They are battery equipped ships designed for future full electric operation. The ships are fitted with hybrid technology that bridges the gap until shore charging infrastructure and funding becomes available in B.C.