After undergoing extensive renovations at North Vancouver's dry dock, the "flotel" has arrived in Kitimat, B.C. to provide housing to roughly 600 workers.
Once named the Silja Festival, the former Eastern European ferry has been converted into a floating hotel for hundreds of temporary workers who will work on the Rio Tinto Alcan aluminum smelter in Kitimat.
The flotel will house the surge of workers who have rented rooms and hotels in the small northern B.C. town.
Bridgemans Services, the owners of the vessel now christened the Delta Spirit Lodge, gave a media tour of the vessel Friday.
Walking through the 171-metre vessel, the vessel still bore signs of its former owners this past Friday, with labels and banners in Estonian present on the lunch hall's beer taps and in the dance hall and kitchen.
More than 150 workers were contracted to clean and retrofit the former Baltic Sea ferry, which arrived at North Vancouver's Burrard Dry Dock on March 3. Renovations to the ship began as it travelled from the Baltic Sea, through the Panama Canal and up the West Coast, according to a release.
The vessel previously housed 1,400 people in multi-bed rooms. Passenger cabins were converted to single occupancy rooms for 600 workers.
The vessel now features three lounges, a dancehall, dining room, first-aid room, lunchroom and access to laundry as well as a gym.
Upgrades to the vessel cost more than $4 million, according to Bridgemans. A further $1 million in food was loaded while in dry dock.
This is the first major contract that the Richmond-based company has received, with two vessels currently in construction, one 82-room ship and the other a 300-room vessel due for release in May and June respectively.
Andrew Purdey, spokesman for Bridgemans Services, said the company is hoping opportunities with liquefied natural gas contracts will keep the vessel and company afloat for some time to come.
"(Bridgemans Services) believe there are going to be a lot of international players in the Skeena area, and we want to provide the solutions to the problem of workers' accommodations," said Purdey last Friday.
Purdey said the flotel is expected to stay up in Kitimat for a year during the smelter upgrades.
