Remontowa Shipbuilding announced that it had started the building of the 4th Salish-class ferry for BC Ferries (Canada) which had ordered a series of 2-fuel (liquefied natural gas (LNG) / diesel-electric propulsion) Salish-class passenger vessels. The newbuild is a part of a contract signed in November 2019.
Three Salish-class cruiseferries (Salish Orca, Salish Eagle, Salish Raven) were delivered between 2016-2017. The 4th unit is due to replace Mayne Queen. According to BC Ferries, the work had proceeded according to the plans, despite the issues caused by the pandemic.
In February 2020, the shipbuilder held the official ceremony for the burning of the first sheets of metal in order to mark the beginning of the construction. Separate sections were joined to form 3 assembly blocks, which will form the hull. A gantry crane of 300-ton lifting capacity was used for the assembly. 2 parts were formed on a new assembly plate, while the 3rd aft block was built at Holm Construction which is owned by Remontowa Holding capital group. The 3rd part was shifted to the yard, following which it was pulled on the plate. The process to join the blocks began later.
In a statement, Remontowa Shipbuilding said that “Parallel to the construction of the strong hull, the prefabrication of the superstructure block was in progress." It was transported to the shipyard by a REM floating crane. The movement and connection of the bow block with the middle block was carried out on September 5 and 6. The joining of the hull blocks has a lot of stages and will take place for over 3 weeks.
In November 2019, BC Ferries awarded contracts to Damen Shipyards Group (The Netherlands) to build 4 additional battery-electric hybrid (Island-class) ships.