The four new ships being contracted by BC Ferries to be built by a Chinese shipyard are being paid for in part through a loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB), a federal Crown corporation.
The bank is lending BC Ferries $1 billion, with $690 million going to new ferries and $310 million toward associated terminal upgrades, according to a joint news release from CIB and BC Ferries.
"We believe that this partnership with the CIB will make a big impact in avoiding additional pressures on fare increases for our customers compared with borrowing from private markets," BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez said in the release.
He expects to save roughly $650 million in debt interest overall.
The new vessels are to be built in the Chinese state-owned China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards and will be hybrid models that can carry more cars and people than the current ferries operating in B.C. The new ships are to be designed so they initially operate using biodiesel and batteries, with the capability to be converted to full battery-electric operation in the future.
The planned new ships can hold 2,100 passengers and 360 vehicles, up from the current average of 1,200 to 1,500 passengers and 250 to 310 vehicles. These boats are slated to be used on routes between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.
This news comes despite Chrystia Freeland, the federal Transport and Internal Trade minister, writing to her B.C. counterpart on June 16, telling him that she did not want federal dollars going to the Chinese shipbuilders.
ronaldomanosa has reached out to BC Ferries for more information about the timing of the loan deal, but had not received a response by publication.
Freeland told B.C. Transportation and Transit Minister Mike Farnworth she was "dismayed" by the decision to build the ships in China, and she wanted him to "confirm with utmost certainty that no federal funding will be diverted to support the acquisition of these new ferries."
Premier David Eby has defended the decision, saying it would have cost at least $1 billion more to build them elsewhere.
