B.C. Ferries, union diverge over safety on engine, controls

The union for B.C. Ferries workers is complaining that the new Salish class vessels compromise safety by separating engine controls from the engines by five decks.

Eduardo Munoz, president of the ships officers component of the B.C. Ferries and Marine Workers’ Union, said until the Salish vessels arrived, ship’s engineers always had a control room inside or overlooking the engine room.

But the new Salish vessels have the control room five decks above the space where the ship’s engines run. If something goes wrong, an engineer can’t quickly be in the engine room and must leave the controls.

“The problem with this is you can’t see first-hand what’s going on in the engine room,” Munoz said.

Munoz, a former chief engineer, said the new vessels operate with one fewer engineer on board, three instead of four, making it even more likely nobody will be available to attend to engine problems.

The design is limited to the new vessels — Salish Orca, Salish Eagle and Salish Raven, which all arrived last year. They were built in Poland at a total cost of about $200 million, and are serving Comox-Powell River and Southern Gulf Islands routes.

Frank Camaraire, B.C. Ferries executive director of engineering, said the vessels were designed to have their engineroom controls separate from the machine space, a common feature in modern vessels.

Putting engine controls on a higher deck puts them closer to the bridge where the vessel is steered. This makes for quicker communication between vessel command and chief engineer.

Camaraire said B.C. Ferries and its vessels are in full compliance with Transport Canada regulations, and when it comes to staff levels, B.C. Ferries exceeds minimum federal requirements by one engineer.

Under federal regulations, B.C. Ferries is only required to have one chief engineer and one engine-room assistant. But the corporation is staffing Salish vessels with one chief, one assistant and one other certified engineering officer.

Camaraire said previous ferries operated with three certified engineering officers and one assistant. But their older technology required extra staff.

Now the chief will sit in the control room, monitoring and controlling the engines by using a computerized system. The other engineer and the assistant move about the vessel but will likely be found in the engine room.

“It’s where they are expected to be working and generally speaking it’s where they are working,” Camaraire said.

The issue of staff levels and distance from the engine room to the controls was brought up in Parliament. Sheila Malcolmson, NDP MP for Nanaimo-Ladysmith, raised the issues of staffing levels required by Transport Canada regulation and B.C. Ferries ship design in question period on June 12. “With engineers five decks above the critical machinery and steering equipment, this risks collision,” Malcolmson said. “Millions ride those ferries.”

Transport Minister Marc Garneau said any decisions about regulations are always made with careful analysis of potential risks. “Security and safety is my number one priority,” Garneau said.