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Ferry becomes floatel for Squamish construction workers

On Jan 3, 2024, the 'Isabelle' arrived at Seaspan’s shipyard in North Vancouver to begin work on the finishing touches of the vessel’s refit ahead of its use as a floating hotel, specifically for the construction workers building the Woodfibre LNG plant. Up until last year, the 'Isabelle' was actively being used in Estonia, where it was mobilized as temporary housing for 1,500 Ukrainian refugees who fled the Russian war. In July 2023, the Vancouver-based marine services firm Bridgemans Services Group acquired the 'Isabelle', at which point the ship was sent to a shipyard in Riga for a major refit of its interior living and common areas, and environmental systems. Starting in Spring 2024, the vessel will be positioned off the shore of the west side of Howe Sound near Squamish, where the Woodfibre LNG facility will be constructed. The 'Isabelle' contains 652 newly renovated guest cabins, each with private ensuites, for more than 600 on-site construction workers over the multi-year timeline of building the project. Living onboard, they will have access to a wide range of amenities, including an upgraded dining room, an 8,000 sq ft fitness gym, a sports lounge with large television screens, a games lounge, and multiple quiet lounges, as well as lockers. The ship has the ability to connect to land-based shore hydro power, reducing the need to use its auxiliary diesel engines, and features industrial-sized heat pumps, sewage treatment with ultrafiltration, and an ultraviolet water purification system. The vessel previously had a capacity for 2,200 passengers and 410 vehicles. Report with photos: https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/woodfibre-lng-squamish-floating-hotel-isabelle-cruise-ship-construction-workers

Ferry becomes accomodation ship

The Tallink Group decided on April 4, 2022, to charter the 'Isabelle' as accommodation for refugees in Estonia. Thus, the company will not restart the line between Stockholm and Riga this year. At the end of March the Tallink Grupp had announced that the company intended to restart the route between Stockholm and Riga from June 3 with the 'Isabelle'. But now the company has changed again, and the ship will instead be chartered by Estonian authorities as accommodation for refugees starting on April 7. The vessel will initially be chartered out for four months with the possibility of extension for two months and then for another two months, as needed. It has not been an easy decision, because the Riga-Stockholm route that it took almost 16 years to build was first strongly affected by the covid crisis and now further by the uncertainty and price increases. The decision offer help to refugees in the form of housing, which there is an urgent need for, but also jobs on board the ship for people who have had to flee. Tallink will offer employment to the crew and employees who currently work for the company's Latvian organization on board Tallink's other vessels, and also to the 'Isabelle' in the coming months.

Service personnel released

The Tallink Grupp subsidiary Tallink Latvija AS on April 17, 2020, notified the Latvian Employment Agency and the group's Latvian crew members and shore personnel that it was commencing a collective redundancies process involving around 550 Latvian employees. The process involvesd both crew members of the 'Isabelle' and 'Romantika' as well as the company's Latvian shore personnel, but the majority of the positions considered for redundancy were those of the onboard service personnel. The ferries have been laid up at the port of Riga since mid-March due to the ongoing state of emergency and the established travel restrictions. As per maritime regulations, both vessels currently have the minimum required level of technical crew onboard, but all other onboard employees have been at home for the last month with reduced salaries It was likely that the Riga-Stockholm route will initially be reopened with only one vessel on the route after the restrictions have been lifted, as the initial estimated passenger figures do not justify immediately returning two vessels to the route and it was likely that every trip the vessels make will initially make a further loss for the company.