Emboldened by Quebec ferry contract, this company boasts it can save N.L. taxpayers 30%
CBC
A ship management company with deep roots in Newfoundland and Labrador has won a major ferry contract in northern Quebec, and believes it can also help improve the costly ferry service to places such as Bell Island, Fogo Island and Ramea.
Canship Ugland Limited — based in Paradise, just west of St. John's — is best known for managing the tankers that shuttle crude oil from Newfoundland's offshore to a transshipment terminal in Placentia Bay.
The company lost that contract seven years ago, however, and has been exploring other opportunities ever since.
Earlier this month, Canship announced it was part of a joint venture with a Norwegian company that was awarded a contract to supply and operate a ferry in Quebec, and to manage four other vessels owned by the Government of Quebec.
In a news release boasting of its new Quebec contract, Canship suggested it wished to become similarly involved with the intra-provincial ferry service in Newfoundland and Labrador, promising an "increase in reliability for users and a less expensive passenger service for taxpayers."
When contacted, Canship president Marco Ahrens said his company could deliver big savings to a province that is grappling with serious financial problems.
Ahrens said he has been dissecting the way the province manages and maintains its fleet of eight government-owned vessels, and believes taxpayers deserve better.
"We saw on the repair and maintenance side and refits, that there was a potential saving of one-third. Thirty per cent," Ahrens told CBC News in a recent interview.
How is that possible?
Without criticizing the public servants currently in charge, Ahrens sees a scenario where his company could manage the government-owned ships, and take what he calls a "commercial" approach to maintenance — one where refits are intricately planned long before a ship enters drydock, with a company putting its reputation and financial survival on the line.
"I do believe that if the industry were to co-operate with the province, work together, there would be considerable savings possible. And it would be a benefit to everyone," he said.
It's a scenario that would dramatically shake up the marine services division at the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, but Minister Elvis Loveless said all options are being considered as part of an ongoing review of the ferry service.
"I'm not using the word savings. I'm not using the word cuts. I'm using the word efficiency," Loveless said.
The province spends nearly $80 million annually on marine services, with a subsidization rate of nearly 94 per cent, according to government data from 2020-21.
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