Oct. 19, 2011
By Alison Bate
Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards came second to Halifax’s Irving Shipbuilding in the
big contract deal announced today.
In a nutshell:
1st: Irving Shipbuilding, Halifax, Nova Scotia. $25 billion to build combat vessels.
2nd: Seaspan Marine Corp, British Columbia. $8 billion to build non-combat vessels.
Out of luck: Joint venture between Quebec’s Davie shipyard, SNC-Lavalin and Daewoo (technology).
Seaspan CEO Jonathan Whitworth put a brave spin on it immediately after the announcement: “While we felt we were more than capable of building the combat ships, we are honoured to have been chosen to provide non-combat vessels for the men and women of the Royal Canadian Navy and Coast Guard,” he said in a press release.
He said the $8 billion program will not only inject billions into the local economy, but will create an average of 4,000 jobs over the next eight years. “In addition, the Federal Government has plans for a further 17 vessels which should fall under the non-combat package.”
MORE INFO:
* Jubilation greets $8-billion shipbuilding contract for B.C.
* For background on Seaspan, read my article “Kyle Washington: Prince of Tides
Smiling broadly! J.