Conservatives upset Chinese shipyard chosen to build new BC Ferries vessels

In recent weeks, the Conservative Party of Canada has drawn attention to BC Ferries accepting the bid of a Chinese, state-owned shipyard for the building of four new vessels. 

The vessels being built are meant to replace the Queen of Alberni, Queen of New Westminster, Queen of Coquitlam and Queen of Cowichan, all of which are C-Class and V-Class ships that were built in the 1960s and 1970s.

The shipyard that won the contract is China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards (CMI Weihai). 

BC Ferries says that the company conducted a rigorous global procurement process to select CMI Weihai, which included a public Request for Proposals, comprehensive bid evaluations, international site visits as well as independent third-party reference checks.

In order to build these vessels, BC Ferries secured a $1 billion loan from the Canadian Infrastructure Bank (CIB), which the Conservatives say should be going to a Canadian shipyard, rather than a Chinese company. 

“Our nation deserves a government that prioritizes domestic manufacturing, instead of sending taxpayer cash to a hostile regime,” said the Conservatives in a media release. 

However, BC Ferries says that during their procurement process to award the contract for the new vessels, the company did prioritize trying to find a Canadian shipyard. 

“We wanted Canadian shipyards to bid on this contract and we adjusted the qualification criteria specifically to enable them to do so,” a BC Ferries spokesperson told Victoria Buzz. 

“Two Canadian shipyards were pre-qualified. Neither chose to submit a final proposal.”

The company added that they can’t award contracts to Canadian yards if they don’t submit proposals. 

The process for awarding this contract was an open, competitive process, for which six compliant proposals were received—all of which were from international shipyards. 

BC Ferries says that CMI Weihai was not the lowest-cost bidder, but was chosen for its best overall value, which includes delivery timeline, technical performance, lifecycle cost and service-level commitments.

Additionally, BC Ferries says that despite this contract being awarded to a Chinese shipyard,  the new vessels will be contributing directly to BC’s economy. 

They say that over their 45-year service lives, the new vessels are projected to generate $4.5 billion in economic output, support 53,000 job-years and deliver nearly $3 billion in wages across BC. 

Those figures include over $1 billion in local investments for vessel maintenance and refits, with approximately $240 million to be spent in the first 10 years alone.

While appearing before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities (TRAN), which is currently studying the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s financing of new vessels for BC Ferries, the company’s President and CEO Nicolas Jimenez reminded Canada’s legislators that while they tried to find a Canadian shipyard, no proposals were submitted by domestic companies. 

“Even if there had been a Canadian bid, it too would have cost more and those ships would have taken up to a decade longer to build—during which time our customers would pay the price with increasing breakdowns of our old vessels,” said Jimenez. 

“Whether you live on Vancouver Island – in Powell River, Nanaimo or Langford – on the lower mainland – in Maple Ridge, Abbotsford or Langley – or frankly anywhere else in BC where taxpayers help support our marine highway, cost of living is a major consideration and our mandate is to provide a service that is as affordable and reliable as possible.”

Jimenez also pointed out that the entirety of the $1 billion loan from CIB is not all going towards these new vessels.  

Of the $1 billion, $690 million will be spent on the vessels and the remaining $310 million is for the electrification of their terminals. 

Additionally, the loan that is to be received by BC Ferries will be repaid in full, with interest. 

“British Columbians desperately need safe, affordable, reliable new ships to keep them and our economy moving,” Jimenez concluded. 

“Our decisions have saved customers and British Columbians unaffordable, unnecessary fare increases and I’m proud we were able to deliver for them.”