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Post by ferryfast admin on Dec 10, 2007 12:09:51 GMT -5
B.C. FERRIES PHOTOFirst of B.C.'s new super-ferries waylaid by storms
CANADA.COM - THE PROVINCE www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=c627bc71-b88f-47fc-b4c6-2b76fbbd888e
Monday, December 10, 2007
VICTORIA -- Gale-force winds forced the B.C.-bound Coastal Renaissance -- the first of B.C. Ferries' three German-built super-coastal-class boats -- to seek shelter off the coast of California last week.
The company website showed the ferry stopped in Los Angeles yesterday, apparently back on track on its 45-day journey from the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft shipyard in Germany.
Storms forced the vessel, which has a capacity of 1,650 passengers and 370 vehicles, to seek shelter near Catalina Island.
Once the weather system passed, the ferry resumed its journey and should arrive in Victoria later this week.
Later, the ferry heads for its permanent berth in Nanaimo for certification and crew training.
Flensburger has a $334-million contract to build the three ferries. The next two are due to arrive in late January and mid-May.
B.C. Ferries is still negotiating with Ottawa about whether it has to pay a combined $100 million in taxes and duties on the three vessels -- a penalty paid for purchasing or building ships outside Canada.
Whether the ferry corporation will have to pay the Coastal Renaissance's $33.3-million share of the duties upon crossing the border into Canada is still being discussed, said B.C. Ferries' Mark Stefanson.
"We're still hoping the federal government will waive the duties," he said. "These ferries couldn't have been built in Canada."
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