Six month disruption for Vancouver travellers as propeller drops off 60-year old Canadian ferry.

60 year-old BC Ferries Queen of New Westminster, with those doors or lack of doors, which can give drivers a bit of added fun in high seas judging by this shot from a similar neighbouring Washington State ferry:

From Marine Log today:

BC Ferries says that its 60-year old Queen of New Westminster ferry will be out of service for six months after an incident that occurred September 3 near the Tawwassen Terminal. It was discovered that the vessel’s starboard propeller had sheared off from the propeller shaft, with some 800 liters of light hydraulic oil spilling into surrounding waters.

The Queen of New Westminster operates on the popular Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay route between Metro Vancouver and Greater Victoria. It can carry more than 250 cars and 1,300 passengers.

The propeller was recovered Saturday morning, September 7.

“A preliminary visual inspection seems to indicate the fracture of the propeller shaft could be related to structural fatigue,” says BC Ferries. The required repairs are anticipated to be significant and include work on both the port and starboard propeller systems before the vessel can be returned to service. This will involve the complete disassembly of both systems and the replacement of the tail shaft on at least the starboard side, which must be specially manufactured. The vessel’s annual refit will also be conducted during this time. Return to service timing will depend heavily on global parts availability and manufacturing timelines.

The oldest comparable, large, CalMac ferry is the 41 year-old MV Isle of Arran, built in Port Glasgow and still in full possession of its props.

3 thoughts on “Six month disruption for Vancouver travellers as propeller drops off 60-year old Canadian ferry.”

  2. O/T

    Labour councillor Lee Steptoe (yes that is his real surname) tweeted this about four Muslim MP’s :

    “Jezza and his Hammas UK gang are welcome to them”

    This was in respect to four independent MP’s who have formed an alliance with Jeremy Corbyn.

    Journalist Owen Jones says this is “raging Islamophobia”.

    Will Labour UK do anything about this ?

    Will the MSM mention this ?

    Will those (Labour friendly) prominent political commentators on Twitter, same ones who were ever so critical of this type of behaviour when it came from Tories, also choose to highlight this and condemn it ?

    Then of course one cannot note this via my comment without then asking;

    “If this were something tweeted via an SNP councillor would it be ignored by all , politically and much of (majority) the MSM, or would it be (well) promoted and so condemned by the usual suspects.

    No need to answer as it’s obvious what could and likely would happen in that scenario.

    Seems this Labour councillor assumes that Labour UK will ignore this tweet by him, due to who the targets are, and he then hopes (assumes) it will go unpunished .

    Just as I am also sure that he also knows that if anyone dared to make any comment/tweet considered to be anti Semitic then all Hell would break loose with Labour UK and then that particular Labour politician would find themselves out on their proverbial A*se.

    (As has happened in the past with Labour MP’s considered to be too Left wing or supportive of Jeremy Corbyn and whose comments that criticised Israel were not really anti Semitic but Labour said they were and they ,the Labour party, needed any excuse to remove them -especially remove JC himself- from the new Toryfied and pro Israel Labour party) .

    Remember when Tory peer Baroness Warsi declared that the Tory party were Islamophobic well via this Labour Councillor’s tweet it seems then that so are Labour via some of their politicians.

    So yet another No “Change” there then with the Labour party from the the Tory party based on this Labour councillor’s tweet as an example (which I think may not be unique ,as in being a solitary example from a Labour politician, that displays Islamophobic language).

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  3. O/T To TuS readers with an interest in maritime matters and the challenges around ship building and maintenance, did you spot this the other day from the Daily Mail?

    Not my go to newspaper so I came across it my chance. It concerns the current status of Royal Navy vessels: you can find an illuminating chart with some noteworthy statistics in the Mail article at this link –
    https://web.archive.org/web/20240906213630/https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13822829/none-britains-submarines-sea-dire-state-royal-navy.html

    In summary, according to the Mail:

    • Only nine out of RN 25 warships and attack submarines are active or deployed
    • The rest of the fleet has broken down, is being modified or undergoing trials
    • HMS Bulwark and destroyer HMS Daring have been inactive for seven years
    • The Astute Class attack submarine, HMS Ambush has been idle for 765 days since 2022.
    • Retired Rear Admiral Chris Perry is quoted: ‘There is a basic lack of honesty here. The Navy will say it is fulfilling its obligations when it isn’t.’
    • The Mail reports: ‘The MoD is also facing a £16.9 billion ‘black hole’ in its spending plans over the next decade, according to the National Audit Office.’

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