BC Ferries selects state-owned shipyard in China to build four new major vessels
The shift comes amid a 40 per cent surge in global shipbuilding costs since the pandemic, coupled with a sharp increase in worldwide demand as shipyards face a growing backlog of orders from customers around the globe. The new major vessels for BC Ferries are timely, given the need to not only increase capacity for expected demand growth, but also to replace aging vessels with a deteriorating rate of reliability.
The contract follows an international competitive bidding process, which did not attract any bids from Canadian shipyards.
CMI has various major shipyard facilities in Mainland China, including the Weihai shipyard in Shandong province, where the ferries will be built. To help ensure quality standards are met, BC Ferries will have a full-time, on-site professional team to monitor the construction progress and safety, with the oversight covering not only the shipyard but also all subcontractors and suppliers.
The decision also follows the independent BC Ferries commissioner’s decision in March 2025 to approve an order of four ships, instead of the ferry corporation’s requested five to enable greater fleet capacity, resiliency, and reliability. The commissioner approved one fewer vessel over concerns about the ferry corporation’s ability to absorb the higher costs without raising fares for customers, requiring added subsidies from the provincial government, and negatively affecting the corporation’s financial performance.
However, at the time of the commissioner’s decision, BC Ferries cautioned that reducing the order would affect the reliability and service standards expected by passengers. The corporation also argued that the fifth vessel was relatively affordable and that delaying its procurement would likely result in higher costs in the future.
In line with its past procurement practices, BC Ferries has not disclosed the value of the winning bid in order to help preserve competitive pricing for future orders. However, it is known that this is a fixed-price contract. The decision to withhold the contract value is supported by the ferry commissioner.
“CMI Weihai is a global leader in passenger ferry construction, and shipbuilding more broadly,” said Nicolas Jimenez, CEO of BC Ferries, in a statement today.
“It was the clear choice based on the overall strength of its bid, including its technical capabilities, high-quality and safety standards, ferry-building experience, proven ability to deliver safe, reliable vessels on dependable timelines, and the overall cost and value it delivers for our customers — all essential as we continue to experience growing demand and the urgent need to renew our aging fleet.”
Preliminary conceptual artistic rendering of the New Major Vessels. (BC Ferries)
According to BC Ferries, CMI Weihai has proven experience meeting Transport Canada standards, and has built modern ferries for operators such as Canadian federal Crown corporation Marine Atlantic’s services in the Maritime provinces, and Swedish giant Stena Line, which is one of the world’s largest ferry operators, with major routes spanning northern Europe.
“Stena RoRo has contracted CMI Weihai Shipyards to build 15 vessels, delivering ferries for both Stena Line and other operators around the world, including in Canada,” states Per Westling, the Managing Director of Stena RoRo, as a testimonial for BC Ferries’ announcement today.
“We continue to partner with this shipyard because they have the scale, technical expertise, and consistent ability to deliver complex passenger and vehicle vessels safely, on time, and to the highest quality standards.”
CMI Weihai has world-class technical and engineering abilities, and the industrial-scale capable of handling such complex, large-scale ferry construction. The Weihai shipyard spans a land area of 1.4 sq. km. and a usable sea area of 1.65 sq km., with 2.5 km of coastline, including 1.2 km of outfitting quays.
Chinese shipyards, including CMI’s business, are responsible for over 50 per cent of the world’s shipbuilding in terms of tonnage.
Prior to selecting CMI Weihai, BC Ferries sent a team to inspect the shipyard as part of its selection process.
“The scale and scope of the operations was impressive. Safety is our highest value, and our in-person evaluations focused on safety management, quality systems, engineering capability, materials storage and handling, production facilities, environmental protection, and even the dedicated space for our on-site team, among other factors,” said Ed Hooper, the Head of Fleet Renewal for BC Ferries.
“We are confident that CMI Weihai will be able to meet our high expectations for safety and quality, while delivering tremendous value for our customers and on-time delivery of the four vessels.”
Aerial of the CMI Weihai shipyard. (CMI)
However, the move could also carry potential geopolitical implications, the full extent of which remains to be seen.
Currently, there are no tariffs for the import of such vessels into Canada.
For years, BC Ferries had planned to purchase up to seven new major vessels, but the original procurement timeline was delayed by the pandemic. The number of vessels is now being phased in over a longer period to help spread out costs in response to recent price escalations, with three additional vessels now targeted to be ordered in the second half of the 2030s.
Under the current contract order of four vessels to the Chinese shipyard, the first ship will enter service in Spring 2029 and the fourth ship will enter service in Summer 2031. The steel cutting process for the vessels will begin in Fall 2026.
Unlike previous vessel orders, working with naval architects and engineers, BC Ferries has already largely completed the design of this new generation of vessels in advance, with the goal of establishing a new standard design for future ships to enhance interoperability and simplify maintenance. The shipyard will use the design provided by BC Ferries.
This future new generation class of ship will have a capacity for 2,100 passengers/crew and 360 vehicles, with a displacement of 11,800 tonnes.
Each ship is designed to carry about 52 per cent more passengers and 24 per cent more vehicles than the average capacity of the aging four vessels that are being retired — the Queen of Alberni, Queen of Coquitlam, Queen of Cowichan, and Queen of New Westminster.
These new vessels will run on a diesel-battery hybrid system, with the capability to be fully converted to 100 per cent battery-powered in the future when shore charging is installed.
In addition to the contract to build the new ships in China, BC Ferries is now also moving forward on over $600 million of infrastructure projects, primarily related to terminal upgrades and electrification, such as shore charging equipment.
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