Imperial’s plans to close put on hold as it searches for an owner to take over operation
Fiona Anderson
Sun
The marine gas station in False Creek — the only fuel source for thousands of boats that dock near Granville Island — has had its life extended until the end of March to enable Imperial Oil to find a potential alternative operator.
False Creek Marine Esso was originally slated to close on Feb. 13 as part of Imperial’s decision to close all seven of its floating gas stations in British Columbia.
Imperial’s spokesman Pius Rolheiser said the extension was “to allow additional time for any interested parties who might like to approach us to explore the possibility of providing a fuel offering at that location.”
Imperial has already closed four of its floating stations, with at least one — Fisherman’s Cove in West Vancouver — expected to open under new ownership.
But while Allan Keefe, who has been operating the False Creek site for 22 years, is eager to continue operating the station, his offer has not yet been accepted. And what is still needed to seal the deal is unclear.
Keefe said Imperial is looking for an indemnity of $10 million for the operation to continue, even though whoever operates the gas station would do so as an independent, and not as an Esso-brand station. Keefe can’t provide that indemnity but he believes the city should step in and ensure the station — which has been operated in the same location since 1938 — remains open. The city could do that by leasing the waterlot from the province and becoming the landlord, Keefe said.
“My pockets aren’t deep enough to give [Imperial] comfort that if there was an incident 20 years from now as a result of operations there that they wouldn’t come back at Imperial,” Keefe said.
Keefe understands why Imperial no longer wants to operate the gas station, with the station selling about two million litres of fuel a year including fueling the harbour ferries and Aquabuses. That’s down from as much as 20 million litres in the days when False Creek was a commercial hub with three floating gas stations, he said.
But if the False Creek station closes, the nearest gas available would be in Coal Harbour, under the Lion’s Gate Bridge, and too far away for many boaters. As a result Keefe believes that boaters would fill their own tanks using jerry cans.
“And every single boat will then be spilling fuel over the sides,” Keefe said.
Rolheiser would not say what was needed to conclude a deal with Keefe and whether there had been any discussions with the City of Vancouver or the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, which manages park lands for the city, including the land Imperial uses at False Creek.
“At this point we have had discussions with a number of parties and we have not yet been successful in finding an alternative service provider,” Rolheiser said. “And that’s all I’m going to say.”
With respect to what terms would be needed to complete a deal, Rolheiser said “those are confidential commercial discussions.”
But Parks Board chairwoman Korina Houghton confirmed that Imperial had met with park board officials in January. However the meeting was informational, she said. “I know that we’ll certainly be negatively impacted [by the closure] but whether or not we would take something like that over is difficult to say,” Houghton said. “There would have to be a very strong business case and it’s not a service we are currently in right now.”
