° . Singular sensat MOVE OVER Ginger Rogers...these ladies work through a number at a secent Happy Tappers Dance Club session. The seniors meet weekly at Silver Harbour Centre and give regular performances. For more in- formation on joining the Tappers call Gladys at 988-951 _. N. Van shipbuilders win ion Wednesday, February 6, 1991 - North Shore News ~ 3 yo NEWS photo Mike Waketield $6 million ferry deal NORTH VANCOUVER-based Allied Shipbuilders Ltd. has won a $6-million subcontract to help build a $120- million superferry for the B.C. Ferry Corp. (BCFC). The deal between Integrated Ferry Construction Ltd. (IFC) and Allied was signed last week and is the first subcontract awarded in the job to build the superferry. Allied president Arthur McLaren said the contract repre- sents about five per cent of the total work that will be done in constructing the ferry. IFC project executive David Longdale said the superferry, the largest vessel ever to be built in B.C., will be built in blocks and the first of six blocks was awarded to Allied. The BCFC originally awarded the vessel contract to North Van- couver-based Versatile Pacific Shipyards Inc. But Longdale, who had worked at Versatile as man- ager of business development, said the ferry corporation decided to create IFC to oversee all of the subcontract work because the vessel was too large for one ship- yard to build. ‘*In order to work with all of the shipyards, it was decided that the only way to do it was to have By Surj Rattan News Reporter an independent company ad- minister the contract,’’ said Longdale. He added that the ferry cor- poration, which created and funds IFC, wanted to make sure ‘money flowed down to the other shipyards.”’ Allied will spend about one year building the bow section of the 470-vehicle superferry, which is due for delivery in 1993. The con- tract is expected to increase the workforce at the North Vancouver shipyard from the present 100 to about 150. “‘We consider this to be the on- ly shot we can get in the industry. We have benefited in the past (by BCFC contracts) and we will con- tinue to benefit in the future.” said McLaren. Versatile is bidding on building the stern section of the vessel. Longdale said subcontracts on the other sections of the ALLIED SHIPBUILDERS’ president Arthur McLaren (centre) signs a contract with Mort Goulding (left), contracts manager for Integrated Ferry Constructors Ltd. Allied will build the bow section of a $120-million superferry for the 8.C. Ferry Corp. superferry will be announced soon. “We are still ia negotiations with Versatile for block A. We are basically in discussions with all of the Lower Mainland ship- builders,”’ said Longdale. Canada Post defends changes From page 1 eliminating over 130° full-time positions in the past two weeks. This will result in further deterioration of services to postal users in the Lower Mainland,” said Charlton. He added that offering postal service out of retail outlets such as 7-Eleven will result in poor ser- vice. But Canada Post spokesman II- ona Beiks said that the North Vancouver post office *‘will not be closing."” “We are changing the type of counter service,’” Beiks said. ‘*We will only provide service to the commercial and business sector. The new change will provide tailor-made service to businesses." She added that, from Canada Post’s point of view. it makes sense {o provide postal service through retail outlets. “There will be staff changes to the North Vancouver post office. We are offering some employees early retirement, bul it is up to them if they want to accept it,” said Beiks. ‘‘We are not laying anyone off. No one will lose their jobs. This is a sound business decision.’ Beiks said that Canada Post plans no changes to the operation of the main West Vancouver post office at this time. The subcontract with aAiied calls for the complete construction and outfitting the ferry’s forward section, as well as its delivery to Victoria, where the hull will be joined with the stern section in the federal graving dock at Esquimalt. Drifting diver rescued in H. Sound A DIVER adrift in rough Howe Sound waters was rescued by a Canadian Coast Guard hovercraft at sunset Sunday. By Michael Becker News Reporter And the rescued man’s diving partner, Dennis Hadikin, has ad- vice for others who might find themselves in troubled waters: “People should use the coast guard...rather than going out yourself to look for lost people. it’s a lot quicker to find someone with an air search.”” Hadikin, of Burnaby, and his friend, Chris Charleton, 33, were diving at Pam Rock, a group of three rocks located in Howe Sound between Lions Bay and Gambier Island. They had spent the morning diving at Bowyer Island, which is approximately five kilometres southeast of Pam Rock. The two left their Zodiac in- - flatable boat at Pam Rock and began a dive to explore the reef area. After having drifted in the cur- rent the divers surfaced to deter- mine where they were. They went down again, found they were drif- ting away from the reef and resurfaced at about 3:10 p.m. “We started kicking toward the southern rock, trying to get in behind it,’’ Hadikin said. But Charleton was caught in the current. It took Hadikin about 45 minutes to swim several hundred yards to the Zodiac. He headed the boat in the direction of Halkett Point on Gambier Island, the area where he thought Charleton was drifting to. But choppy water and drift- wood hampered Hadikin’s efforts to spot his friend. He searched for about 10 minutes and then return- ed to Lions Bay to alert the Ca- nadian Coast Guard. “I figured if we got a helicopter in we could find him a lot easier,’’ Hadikin said. A coast guard hovercraft was dispatched from Sea Island . Charleton was eventually spot- ted by a searching helicopter at 5:08 p.m. (four minutes before sunset), one mile east of the hovercraft. He was plucked from the water and returned to Lions Bay. According to the coast guard official he was ‘‘cold but OK.”’ Said Hadikin, ‘‘The helicopter found him eventually toward the top of Bowyer Island.’’ He said Charleton had managed to work his way eastward to avoid drifting into the Langdale ferry route. “He figured it was not a good place to be,’’ added Hadikin. Hadikin and Charleton dive together regulerly and have several years of diving experience. ‘‘We've both spent years in the outdoors. It’s basically a matter of keeping your head straight,’ Hadikin said. Index @ Business .............. 47 W@Lifestyles.............. 51 M@ Classified Ads.......... 57 Mailbox .............. 7 ® Doug Collins .......... & WW! North Shore Now ...... 19 MiComics ............... 54 MDr. Ruth.............. 52 ® Editorial Page ......... 6 WMSports................ 15 Food ..........2-2-05. 56 MTV Listings ........... 42 @ Bob Hunter ........... 4@ WW! What's Going On ...... 54 Weather Wednesday. mix of sun and cloud. High near 9"C. Thursday. mostly cloudy with a chance of showers. Low. 3°C. high. 10°C. Second Class Registration Number 3885