[sunsetmountainland]

I have an update from the island ferry services website.

Happy 2018 to our friends and followers!

Although we have been responding directly to messages, email, and media and personal calls, it has been awhile since we posted broader update. Indeed, one is overdue.

There are essentially 5 major components to this project – terminals in each of Nanaimo and Vancouver, two Transport-Canada-certified ships, competent people, and adequate financing. Of course there is a myriad of details but these are the big pieces.

We reported earlier that we had reached agreement with the Nanaimo Port Authority on the Terms of an Offer to Lease. Broadly, this agreement will permit us to operate from the Port’s passenger and ship berthing facility, as well as to lease a portion of their property at 100 Port Drive for parking.

In order to ultimately enter into a lease agreement, the NPA requires that that an Environmental Assessment be conducted to assess the impact of our operations. We have agreed on the scope of that assessment and have engaged an environmental consulting firm to do the work, an effort that will require input from key stakeholders, most notably the Snuneymuxw First Nation.

On the Vancouver side, there had been interest expressed from a few operators to make use of berth(s) at the South SeaBus Terminal. (You may have seen recent media reports where a Vancouver-Victoria proponent stated that they would not be going ahead with a possible service). Given that interest, TransLink issued a Request for Expressions of interest in mid-September 2016. Submissions were due on October 15, 2016.

Given the substantial interest from central Vancouver Island, we believe that our proposed service is likely to be the most consistent with TransLink’s public transportation mandate and is most likely to offer TransLink the best financial return.

Last Friday (January 5, 2018), their procurement staff advised that the RFI was closed (which we take to mean that their evaluation of responses is complete) and that their Real Estate Department will now make contact with the preferred proponent(s).

Construction continues on schedule on our ships. Although our first two vessel s were sold to a third party when we couldn’t put all the pieces together in time, the replacement ships are identical to those already certified by Transport Canada with one exception – the engines will now comply with the International Maritime Organization’s Tier 3 requirements, the most stringent air emissions standards in the marine environment. The ships are scheduled to be completed by end-May 2018, trialed and then transported to Nanaimo.

On the people side, we are delighted to have received over 150 resumes and expressions of interest. We respond to – and are holding onto – each and every such submission. Moreover, we intend to hold a hiring fair at some point in the spring of 2018

Finally, to close financially with our infrastructure investor, we need an executable lease from the NPA, an executable operating license from TransLink, and executed ship contracts. As noted earlier, we’ve moved forward on the critical pieces and, of these, are looking forward to entering into the key next piece -- discussions with TransLink.

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