Premier Christy Clark will head to Ottawa this month to bolster a B.C. shipyard’s attempt to win a lucrative federal shipbuilding contract.
Seaspan Marine Corp. is the lone West coast contender for the $35 billion contract, coveted for its potential to boost the economy and provide long-term, well-paid jobs for trades workers.
Other shipyards vying for the contract are Davie Yards Inc. in Quebec, Irving Shipbuilding in Nova Scotia, and Seaway Marine & Industrial Inc. in Ontario. Newfoundland’s Kiewit Offshore Services also made the shortlist but dropped out of the running in April.
Last June, the government announced the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy, a 30-year plan to build much-needed ships for Canada’s Navy and Coast Guard.
Two main contractors will be selected—one to build combat vessels, the other to build non-combat vessels such as patrol ships and icebreakers. The bid deadline is July 7, with the results expected sometime this year.
Seaspan wants the combat portion of contract. John Shaw, Vice President, Program Management, says his company has the capacity to take on the job.
“It’s more than a question of ‘Can you build a ship?’ The real issue is do you have the expertise, facilities, and fiscal strength to deliver what Canada needs? Our team has just that. Solid financial backing, the expertise to build ships up to 30,000 tons, and the track record to prove that we can accomplish that goal, on time and on budget,” Shaw says.
Seaspan estimates that the first two to three years under the program would create more than 3,000 jobs and have roughly the same GDP impact as the construction attributable to the 2010 Olympic Games.
The company, which consists of Vancouver Shipyards, Vancouver Drydock, and Victoria Shipyards, is planning to make major upgrades to its infrastructure to be able to build the 30,000 ton ships Ottawa wants.
Davie Yards is currently in negotiations with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri to buy the shipyard after filing for bankruptcy protection over a year ago. The sale has to be finalized by July 7 if the new owners want to bid on the procurement strategy.
‘Unprecedented investment’
Designed to eliminate cycles of boom and bust in Canada’s shipbuilding industry, the strategy encompasses three streams: the construction of large ships; construction of small ships; and repair, refit, and maintenance projects. The construction of smaller ships will be set aside for competitive procurement among other Canadian shipyards.
Shipyards selected to build the combat and non-combat ships will have to subcontract vast amounts of work to the broader marine industry and its suppliers, providing spin-off jobs.
Speaking recently at CANSEC, the annual defence trade show held in Ottawa, Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose said the “unprecedented investment” in the strategy will create additional industrial and regional benefits in communities across the country.
“This strategy gave us an opportunity to not only strengthen this industry but also to create and sustain good, long-term, highly skilled jobs,” she said, according to the Public Works website.
Public Works is leading the shipbuilding procurement along with Defence, Industry, and Fisheries and Oceans.
Ambrose said her department set out to ensure a “transparent and arm’s-length process,” and to that end has hired two companies to act as independent fairness monitors. She also noted that companies bidding on the project have been asked not to employ lobbyists.
“Whether shipyards are successful or not will depend 100 percent on the merits of their proposals,” she said.
However, according to David Pugliese of Defence Watch, a monthly Journal that deals with defence and security affairs, rumour has it that Irving Shipbuilding is assured of being one of the winning contractors, with the second coming down to Seaspan vs. Davie.
It is not yet known when Clark will leave for Ottawa. Her visit will follow that of Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter, who was in Ottawa recently to support Irving’s bid.
The premier visited the Seaspan shipyards in North Vancouver on June 9 for a rally, where she told about 100 workers that the project is “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“We will win this for B.C., because we are together,” Clark said. “We are already head and shoulders above the other [bids]. The question is not, ‘Will we get half of the bid?’ The question is, ‘Who will get the other half?’”
Clark said Seaspan’s bid has broad support, both from MLAs of all stripes and the unions.
Friends Read Free