‘

doubters and critics,
spectacular vessel already,” he-said of. f
the

- ferry corporation in the world, trans:

‘the investments necessary,” he said.

Bravery

honored |

By Wiyke Clark
Contributing Weiter

NORTH Vancouver District Mayor Don

Bell started the Monday night council

meeting off by doing something he says
he doesn’t get the chance to do cnough,

“This ts an opportunity .. to show and congrat-
ulate the positive efforts of young people” In our

community,

Bell was referring to five Seycove secondary
school students who recently saved the fife af a

woman at Cates Park,

Roger Altenburg, Rowan Gloag, Ryan Griffiths,
aynard and Eric Rosenberg received certifi-
cates of appreciation from district council for their
heroic efforts in rescuing a woman whose car had

Liam

rolled into the ocean at Cates Park on June 6.

For their part, the young men don’t consider

themselves heroes,

But they are glad that their positive actions were

appreciate

“It’s an honor ... it’s good that people can ser
' ” .
the good things about the Cove,” is how Rowan

Gloag described the recognition,

“You always hear bad things about Seycove with

drugs and all, but we're nor all like that.”

fter realizing the woman was in serious trouble
the teens rushed to her.aid, smashing the window of

the car and making the rescue.

sustained in the accident. :

But.according to Bell, that doesn’t take away

from the actions of the Scycove graduates,

“This is one very. visible opportunity to. show
pride and respect for these individuals,” said Bell,

From page|

Clark's announcement Monday
hrought the second and third fernes
out of the deep freeze. The word
came just a few months before the
first ferry’s fall 1997 completion date.

‘The premier used the occasion to. |
lambaste .the fast-ferry program's

“People said it can’t. be done. Ie
shouldn't be done. Look at it. What a

first vessel rising behind him,
‘He said B.C. Ferries is the largest

portiig more than 20 million passen- ~
gers and 10 million vehicles 'a year:
“If we want to continue to build
the province, to serve the people of ’
British. Columbia, we have to make
sure the government is there making

“We can compete with anybody in
the world and this project is going to

. do that,” said Clark.

‘He said the fast-ferry program has created more
than 200 jobs in the, shipyards, many of them in
North Vancouver, and another 150 jobs will be cre-
ated with the green light for the next two ferries.

Brad. Moe, a welding instructor with Local 506

"of the Marine and Shipbuilders, said the ‘decision to

proceed with vessels two and three means steady
work for union members,

., The Deep Cove resident said he’s confident that
the workers can build a “very good ship. So long as
the politics don’t get in the way, we should be able
to continue it.” . ;

_ The work on the vessels has been spread out

“among yards on’ Vancouver Island and the Lower

Mairiland. Moe, 39, said it would be better if the
ferries were constructed in one place. He added
there’s currently a lot of material handling which

_ adds to the cost.

North Vancouver firms involved in building the
122.5-metre (408-foot) vessels include:
im ymcouver Shipyards, which is building the lower

ull;

& Allied Shipbuilders, which is fabricating the bow
and stern ramps;
ABD Aluminum Boats, which has entered a joint
venture with Fraser Shipyards to erect the boat's
superstructure.

Clark said foreign shipping companies have

__ shown “a lot of interest” in the fast ferries, and are

waiting to see how the boats perform in the water,

Meanwhile, a critic of the prograrn fired at
North - Vancouver-based Catamaran Ferries
International (CFI), a wholly-owned B.C. Ferries

ST ceatepemenemariigncmetentenmenenemmaaertaaamerertened

The woman has since passed away due to injuries

BEFORE Premier Glen Clark spoke Monday,
the first fast ferry at the erection shop on the waterfront.

HEWS photo

subsidiary in charge of manufacturing and-market-
ing the boats. ; ;

Six of the seven new board appointinents are all
board members of B.C. Ferries.

The other new board member, Tom Ward, is a
B.C. Ferries senior vice president. He’s also presi-
dent and chief executive of CFI.

The new CFI board chairman is Forest Alliance
of British Columbia chairman Jack Munro, who also
oversees B.C. Ferries capital programs committee.

A B.C,-based independent consulting engineer,
Leslie Eiken, says that the appointment of the new
board is bad news for taxpayers.

“It’s a joke. What do these people know about
shipbuilding and. cost control?” asked Eiken, who
built the first superferry up to main deck in 1991-
92 on budget.

“None of the new board’s members have ever
been intimately involved in shipbuilding,” he added.
“The taxpayers of B.C, are going to get hurt duc to
the lack of industry know-how on the new board
that is appointed.”

But B.C. Ferries communications officer Clay
Suddaby said boards are not necessarily best consti-
tuted with people who are experts in a particular
company’s operations.

“The purpose of the board is not to micro-man-
age things but to set the general policy and direction
of the company. Then, the people that are the line
managers are the ones that are supposed to be
experts in the field,” ke said.

Doubt has dogged the project since it was
announced in 1994,

work continued on

a

Eiken has recently become a vocal
critic of the fast-ferry program. He
says the 33,500 maximum horsepow-
er CFI is installing as propulsion
power in the ferries is inadequate to
accomplish 37 knots (68 kilometres
yer hour) when the ferry is fully

loaded,

Compared with other catamarans

- ‘already. built and in. service, Biken
believes the B.C, fast ferry will be at
least 10,000 horsepower short of
what is required.

He expects the first ferry likely
won't be sailing until the spring of

“1998, way. behind: the fall of 1996
date B.C. Ferries initially hoped to
have the first catamaran in service.

> Eiken -also questions why CFI
spenc more than $42 million on the

pan

mee marans up front.
site Waxetiels

Each~ship has four engines and
two spares were also purchased.

“If you are half-smart, you have

- the first four engines for the first ship
delivered when the ship is ready for them and the
next four when needed. You don’t pay money up
front when it is nor necessary. It is simply unbusi-
nesslike,” he said.

CFI has 37 people at its North Vancouver head
office. Eiken said there are a lot of people being paid
big money, “It is bureaucracy,” he said. “It is a waste
of money

Eiken said the tradespeople in the BiC. ship-
building industry are of top quality. However, man-
agement is a different story when it comes to “new
boys” like those in CFI. .

CFI generil manager Andy Hamilton refutes
Eiken’s assertions.

He said the CFI craft has a very efficient hull
form, so the company is confident it will meet the
power-to-weight ratio needed to power a fully-
loaded vessel at 37 knots.

He said the company will have the first ferry built
by the end of September and delivered to B.C.
Ferries in December,

The ferry will go into service in the spring of
1998. He said all 14 engines were purchased at the
same time for efficiency reasons.

“?'m_ a Scotsman, 1 believe in getting the‘ vest
price that you can and by buying the 14 engines we
saved the taxpayer a lot of money,” he said,
although he couldn’r say how much was saved.

Hamilton said the employees in North
Vancouver include project managers and engineers.

Hamilton said CFI has spent $85 million so far.
Of that amount, $37.5 million has been spent on
the first vessel.

Wednesday, Jul

14 engines needed for the three cata- >

y 9, 1997 « North Shore News = 3

SEYCOVE secondary heroes (loft to right) Rowan Gloag, Liam Maynard, Eric Rosenberg, Ryan Griffiths and Roger |
Altenburg were honored by North Vancouver District council for thelr attempts to rescue a woman from a submerged _
car off Cates Park June 6. Mayor Don Bell presented the awards to the five students Monday.

CFI board appointments Criticized | North van

AN cighty-cight-year-old -
North Vancouver woman
has died from injuries sus-
tained in a house fire last
Friday afternoon. |

Evelyn, Brownee died a. day
after being rescued by North
Vancouver City firefighters. The
cause of death was smoke inhala-.,
tion and burns.

“She had recently had a stroke
and was unable to call out for
help,” said North Vancouver
RCMP Const. Tom Seaman. °

According to _ eyewitness
accounts, Brownee appeared on
,her. second-storey balcony
ablaze. Firefighters responded
immediately and doused her in a
shower.

Investigators found a couch
inside her apartment damaged by
fire, Fire investigators list the
cause of the fire as originating
from “smoker's material.”

Meanwhile, in West
Vancouver Monday night, the-
West Vancouver Fire Department
responded to a kitchen fire in the
2400-block of Ottawa Avenue.

When firefighters arrived at
the scene, a resident and a neigh-
bor had controlled the fire with a
_ garden hose and a home. fire
extinguisher. Firefighters extin-
guished the remaining hot spots.
Damage to the home is estimated
at. $10,000. No injuries were
reported.

lronically, at about the same
time as the fire was kindling,
West Vancouver councillors
voted on the third reading of a
proposed Fire — Extinguisher
Bylaw which would require all
newly constructed homes and
newly renovated homes in West
Vancouver to have a fire extin-
guisher located in the vicinity of
a kitchen,

— Andrew McCredie