New government will examine BC Ferries shipbuilding, Doerkson says

B.C. Premier-designate Lorne Doerkson is about to become the new “captain” of the province and one of the issues he wants to dive into is BC Ferries.

Specifically a decision that was made last year to award a contract for new ferries to a Chinese shipyard.

“I don’t know what the deal looks like, I mean we would obviously have an interest in seeing that,” Doerkson said.

“There’s so much that we haven’t seen, but there’s a reason to look at it for the betterment of British Columbia and I’ll look at it for sure.”

BC Ferries chose Weihai Shipyards to build four new Summit-class hybrid-electric ferries, with the first delivery expected in 2029.

It prompted a wave of criticism, but BC Ferries said no Canadian shipyard bid for the project.

1:38 Unions call for ‘built-in-B.C.’ ferries

“The contracts have been signed and moving out of these contracts would very likely come with a contractual penalty,” Werner Antweiler, a professor at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, said.

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“That is a cost that would have to be considered in addition to finding a replacement.”

A study conducted last year found that building the four ferries in B.C. would have generated an additional $1.5 billion in economic activity, most of it in B.C.

During the campaign, the Conservatives vowed to fix BC Ferries, but it will take much more to reshore shipbuilding in the province.

“They will have to be ready with concrete measures including a change in the mandate for BC Ferries to ensure economic development issues are part of what BC Ferries does,” Jim Stanford, an economist and director of the Centre for Future Work, said.

2:34 Severance questions after BC Ferries Board fires CEO

It is also a time of upheaval at BC Ferries.

CEO Nicholas Jimenez was dismissed just two days after the election as part of what it’s calling a “revitalization review.”

In a statement BC ferries said: “We recognize the interest in what the change in government and recent leadership transition could mean for BC Ferries, including our fleet renewal program.”

“I think the ship has probably sailed, pardon the pun, on the Summit class coming out of the Weihai Shipyards, but that’s not to say there aren’t other vessels in the BC Ferries fleet that are going to require renewal,” president of the BC Ferries and Marine Workers Union, Eric McNeely, said.