Routes & Operators
Former BC Ferries PacifiCats are being recycled in Egypt
PacifiCat Discovery, Explorer and Voyager are being broken up at Abuqir and Idku in Egypt. A plan to convert the three former BC Ferries fast ferries into hospital ships did not go ahead.
Source: Shippax (opens in a new tab)
Shippax reported on 1 October 2026 that the three PacifiCat fast ferries built for BC Ferries are being broken up and recycled in Egypt. PacifiCat Discovery, PacifiCat Explorer and PacifiCat Voyager are 122.5 metres long and capable of 42 knots. They were built between 1996 and 2000 by Catamaran Ferries International in North Vancouver, and were specified to carry 1,000 passengers and 250 vehicles at a service speed of 35 knots.
Washington Marine Group acquired all three in 2003 for USD 13 million, and sold them in 2009 to Abu Dhabi MAR. The ships were in lay-up at Alexandria in 2022. In 2025 a group from the United States was in talks to buy them and convert them into civilian hospital ships. That project did not go ahead.
Shippax said all three are now being scrapped at Abuqir, 20km east of Alexandria, and Idku, 40km east of Alexandria, by Fast Marine Technology for its client International Technology for Chemical Industries. The ships were designed by Philip Hercus and Robert Allan Ltd of Vancouver.