Building of the PacifiCat Ferries (Part 1/6)

The PacifiCat Series or Fast Cat fast ferries were operated from 1999 to 2000 by BC Ferries. This program chronicles the construction of the first and second of the three Pacificat ferries. It's obviously very biased, as the ferries were a spectacular failure on several levels, but what can you expect when the documentary is funded by the companies involved? Regardless, this is some great, and rare, footage. The title used in the intro screen is the official title, as best I can tell.
The first 5-10 minutes is missing, but I believe it is just a summary of the ferry system in British Columbia, which is easily found on Wikipedia, if one is so inclined. Unfortunately taping (this was broadcast in 1999 or 2000, so a VCR was used; you can see tracking in various places, as well as occasional video glitches which are present on the hard copy) began only after I realized this might be pretty interesting to watch.
The ferries were auctioned off in 2003 by the government of BC for $20 million CAD to the Washington Marine Group. The ferries cost $460 million CAD to build. WMG had offered $60 million prior to the auction. WMG sold the ferries to a company in the UAE, in July 2009.
en.wikipedia.or...

[@ThingsToDoPlacesToGo]

Thanks for posting. Very informative.

[@pdxmack]

Sold to US Navy, they are now a fast landing craft.

[@FerryGeek]

Thank you for uploading these videos to TH-cam!

[@barontaylor7139]

Why weren't the other 2 Century class ferries or the Queen of Prince Rupert replacement ferry ever built?

[@QiuyuanChenRyan916]

Around 2000, the engine efficiency was simply not the most important topics still. Again, computer simulation technology was not up to date yet which further restricted how the ship is going to be designed.

[@dondon1112]

I suspect it would have been new aluminum, given that BC produces a lot of aluminum. In any case, aluminum is more or less infinitely recyclable and is not degraded by the recycling process. I don't recall hearing anything about the ferries having structural issues, although I never followed the story very closely. As with much of the BC government's failures, and governmental failure in general, politics play a bigger role than anything more tangible.