Two things bad happened to the province of British Columbia in the last 17 years; the NDP and the Liberal parties. Two completely polarized parties – one neo-conservative and the other… root vegetable digging, gumboot wearing social workers and elementary school teachers all rolled into one big red suit.
The PacifiCat fast ferries, the products of one of British Columbia’s most controversial NDP mega-projects, have been sold to Washngton Marine Group who plans to export them to Dubai.
The Washington Marine Group, which bought the aluminum catamaran-style ferries at auction in March 2003, said yesterday that it has sold the three vessels to a firm called Mar. Note the lower of the 2 photos.
The ships, built between 1999 and 2000, were mothballed by the provincial government in 2001 after fairly successful tests on British Columbia’s coastal waters.
Abu Dhabi MAR’s website says the company is a builder of huge yachts, based in the United Arab Emirates. Its most recent achievements appear to be the conversion of two Dutch-built warships into two of the largest super-yachts ever built, 139.5 and 133.5 metres in length. Yachts. For rich folks. That we built. Nice.
Click on the little image above and above for the big image and weep.
Link to my photo in the Times Colonist here… 3 from the left.