Damaged by the repeated setbacks of F.-A. Gauthier in recent years, the Société des traversiers du Québec has fought back and is suing the supplier of the azimuth thrusters that gave it so much trouble for $8.7 million.
• Read also: Nearly $65 million already invested in the ferry F.-A.-Gauthier
The STQ filed a lawsuit for nearly $9 million in Superior Court against the Finnish company Steerprop. The firm is the one that supplied the company with the two azimuth thrusters installed under the hull of the 133-meter vessel during construction at the Italian shipyard Fincantieri between 2013 and 2014.
courtesy
THE F.-A. Gauthier had to undergo three separate drydocks due to problems with Steerprop’s azimuth thrusters since commissioning.
The last two, which are the subject of the claim, were forced by oil spills at sea caused by broken thruster seals. These problems deprived the STQ of 190 days of use of the vessel between November 2020 and December 2021.
Recurring problem
In the query obtained by The newspaper, the company blames the Finnish company for “poor quality parts,” but also for deficient follow-ups in handling sealing system issues.
“Steerprop’s interventions resulted in a series of fruitless and disorganized attempts on its part, during which it undertook repairs, modifications and replacements of parts at exorbitant cost, often haphazardly” , deplores the management of the STQ.
In total, the thruster seals were replaced three times, with Steerprop never managing to completely fix the leaking problem.
Archive photo, Jean-François Desgagnés
The first replacement comes in 2019, when the seals have 15,000 hours of use on the clock. The second change comes after the first oil overboard episode, after barely 3000 hours of use.
“Examination of joints […] reveals their degradation, their delamination as well as the presence of blisters, burns, blisters, damage and signs of premature wear”, can we read in the lawsuit, the representative of Steerprop having even at this time spoken “ excessive damage”.
All 16 seals had to be replaced again during a third drydock in the fall of 2021, this time after only 1896 hours of operation. Moreover, the STQ learned at that time that its supplier had modified certain parts “on its own initiative”. Even today, oil transfers are still observed between the supply tanks and those of recovery, demonstrating the lack of tightness of the system, the cause of the problem “not having been identified” by the supplier.
A lemon”
The saga of F.-A. Gauthier damaged the reputation of the Société des traversiers du Québec. The largest vessel commissioned by the government, the ferry has a capacity of 800 passengers and 180 vehicles.
Initially planned for $150 million, delivered at $170 million, the F.-A. Gauthier ultimately cost Quebec taxpayers more than $235 million when you add in the repair bills and the cost of setting up replacement vessels to make up for its numerous absences.
Prime Minister François Legault even called the ship a “lemon” in 2019.
The Auditor General also investigated the case, concluding that the STQ did not have the necessary skills to supervise the project at the time of the design and construction of the ship.