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Failed BC Ferries: PacifiCats Sold to Abu Dhabi Mar for Export

by cyn.khoo | July 29, 2009 at 03:21 pm

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BC's epic failure in public transportation, the FastCat ferries, or PacifiCats, have been sold to a luxury yacht company, Abu Dhabi Mar, who will be exporting them to the United Arab Emirates.

The three aluminum ferries were a disaster for all involved, including the New Democrat Party (NDP) who ran the provincial government at the time. Construction costs overran schedule and budget by $250 million to $460 million, and were ultimately unusable due to constant operational problems.

Washington Marine Group bought the ferries in 2003 for $19.5 million, hoping to make a "quick flip". However, little came of potential ideas for the ferries, such as using them as high-speed barges, for military transport, or as a temporary form of mass transport during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. WMG confirmed the night of Tuesday, July 28, that the ferries have been sold and will be leaving Canada. The amount the FastCats were sold for remains undisclosed.

“Bound by privacy and confidentiality contracts and policies, no further comments will be made at this time by the Washington Marine Group of Companies,” the company said in a news release.

Speculation has arose regarding the fact that the announcement was made the same day that the BC provincial government announced "a comprehensive review of the financial operations and governance of both BC Ferries and Translink". However, BC finance minister Colin Hansen and Translink have said that there is no connection between the BC ferries sale and planned public transportation review.

“A lot of people are trying to read between the lines here, but we have no preconceived ideas here,” Mr. Hansen said.

Hansen added that he had not known that the BC FastCat ferries were sold.

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Skagit Information Management Systems

at 17:21 on July 29th, 2009

Thanks for posting my scans from my Flickr account :-).

Have to say, it's kind of ironic when I have more scans to post and two reports 10 years after I did a Senior Project/graduation requirement on fast ferries in the Pacific Northwest when the fast ferry fiascoes in the Northwest end is the very same night I have my main computer in the shop, I am using a backup netbook. Hopefully w/in 24 hours I will be able to upload somewhere the reports I wrote and link back here.

This is good news though - the PacifiCatastrophe had to end at some point. Just as Washington State's fast ferry fiascoes ended last January w/ the Chinook & Snohomish being sold to San Francisco. I strongly urge the new buyers to be mindful of the massive wake wash from the PacifiCats.

I also hope they realise the PacifiCats' socialist karma. Frankly, the NDP built three of them - and got (at least) three terms of opposition benches as a result.

Thanks again for your intrepid work on this.

Josef Kunzler, Skagit IMS

POLARBEAR52

at 01:20 on August 14th, 2009

Imagine building them for $460 Million and then selling them after a few years for $19.5 Million! They could have got more if they tried to sell them on Craigslist!

Half the houses in the Lower Mainland are worth close to a million dollars..it is just ridiculous that they could not sell them for more than that...and that doesnt include the sales commission.

Brock MacLean, Coquitlam, BC

Dwight Darby (not verified)

at 22:27 on September 8th, 2009

PacifiCats could have bin used simply by pulling back on the throttle and cut down waves and hull viberations. But the Premier was not thinking possibly because of liquide consumtion efecting his thinking. Watch the months to come as more bad judgement from Gordon Campbell and the liberal party send B.C. back into the stone ages. 3 strikes and you are out Gordon Campbell and the Liberal Party. 2013 I don't think so. Hope everybody in B.C. feel the same as me. Check my Web Site pass it on please.