Seaspan CEO Named Vancouver Exec of Year

By Mark Edward Nero

Marine services company Seaspan announced June 13 that Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Whitworth has been named 2016 British Columbia CEO of the Year by news publication Business in Vancouver.

Each year Business in Vancouver and its partners seek nominations for British Columbia’s most outstanding business people in private and public sector companies to honor them for their achievements.

Seaspan’s Whitworth has been named the winner of this year’s Enterprise Category, the largest of all the awards. The category is open to companies with annual revenues of $500 million and above.

Upon arriving with Seaspan in 2009, Whitworth has helped transform the 130-year old company by modernizing its fleet and facilities, maturing its operations to meet international standards, and investing in technology to drive efficiency.

In addition, the Government of Canada formed a partnership with Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards in October 2011 to build non-combat vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy.

Vancouver Shipyards is expected to build up to 17 vessels, worth $7.3 billion Canadian, over the next 10 to 15 years.

“Thanks to his past history as an officer in the Merchant Marine, Jonathan is one of few vessel owners/shipyard leaders in North America who has sailed at sea and commanded a vessel,” Seaspan Chairman Kyle Washington said. “His unique experience, combined with a highly strategic approach and passion for the industry has enabled him to focus on the tactical steps to safely and efficiently run a multi-dimensional company such as Seaspan.”

Vancouver Shipyards Lands Science Vessels Contract

By Mark Edward Nero

Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards has signed a $35 million contract with the Canadian division of global technology company Thales regarding the electronic systems for the construction of three Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard, Seaspan and Thales both announced May 26.

Thales in Canada is responsible for the selection, procurement and integration of the electronic systems and equipment on the vessels being constructed, including radar, communications, bridge and mission systems.

“Seaspan is full-steam ahead on the production and delivery of its first two National Shipbuilding Strategy Non-Combat vessels, and we are pleased and excited to partner with Thales’ world-class team of experts,” Seaspan Shipyards President Brian Carter said in a statement.

Seaspan on March 29 announced the start of production on the second of the three OFSVs. According to Thales, progress continues on the first OFSV with 37 of 37 blocks currently under construction. Thales has been under contract for the initial phases of the OFSV project since 2013, and is also under contract with Seaspan for initial phases of the Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel (OOSV) for the CCG and the Joint Support Ships (JSS) for the Royal Canadian Navy.

The three Canadian Coast Guard science vessels are scheduled to be delivered before the end of 2017.

Seaspan Receives $65 Million in Shipbuilding Contracts

By Mark Edward Nero

The Canadian government on March 14 announced the signing of two new contracts valued at more than $65 million with Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards as part of the government’s National Shipbuilding Strategy.

The National Shipbuilding Strategy is a federal effort to renew the fleets of the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Coast Guard.

The contracts with Vancouver Shipyards are expected to help pave the way for future construction of the Canadian Coast Guard’s offshore oceanographic science vessel and the Royal Canadian Navy’s joint support ships at Vancouver Shipyards by enabling Seaspan to initiate early discussions with potential suppliers and purchase necessary material and equipment.

With the new contracts now in place, specialized parts such as propulsion systems, scientific equipment, generators and steel can be ordered prior to start of construction.

“Today is an exciting day for Seaspan and marks a major milestone for the National Shipbuilding Strategy as we continue to rewrite shipbuilding history in Canada,” Seaspan Shipyards President Brian Carter said. “This announcement is a strong reminder of the progress being made under the NSS. Its impact will continue to increase opportunities for Canadian companies and provide jobs for Canadians that flow from our delivery of vessels to the Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy.”

Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards says it has awarded $380 million in contracts to date to suppliers in Canada, and that over 160 Canadian companies have already benefited from the investments.

It is estimated that Seaspan’s National Shipbuilding Strategy work will create more than 2,300 direct, indirect and induced jobs annually and produce almost $290 million per year in Gross Domestic Product for Canada’s economy.

New Vancouver Shipyards VP Announced

By Mark Edward Nero

British Columbia-based transportation company Seaspan Marine said Jan. 4 that Ian Brennan has joined its subsidiary Vancouver Shipyards as Vice President, Supply Chain Management & Contracts.

As part of Seaspan Shipyard’s executive team, he’ll be responsible for and day-to-day oversight and direction of supply chain, warehousing and logistics, procurement, and contracts and subcontracts in support of new vessel construction at Vancouver Shipyards.

He joins the company from General Dynamics Mission Systems – Canada where he was chief counsel and corporate secretary. In that role, he was responsible for export/import, anti-bribery and trade restrictions compliance, intellectual property and licensing matters, design and management of procurement terms and conditions of purchase and sale, and all commercial and legal matters.

Prior to that, he was Commercial and Procurement Director for Project Management International Ltd. in the United Kingdom. Overall, he has more than 27 years of experience in the shipbuilding and heavy project construction industries.

“I am very pleased to welcome Ian to the team at Vancouver Shipyards,” Seaspan Shipyards President Brian Carter said. “Ian’s diverse corporate and shipbuilding experience coupled with his proven success in delivering on complex projects will be an asset for Seaspan’s new construction program.”

BC Ferries Sea Trials

By Mark Edward Nero

BC Ferries, which provides ferry service along coastal British Columbia, has two of its vessels conducting sea trials in the Saanich Inlet from Sept. 21 to 24 in order to demonstrate the vessels’ performance for three shipyards bidding on the mid-life upgrades.

The Spirit of Vancouver Island and Spirit of British Columbia are scheduled to undergo upgrades that include conversion to dual-fuel so the ferries can operate on liquefied natural gas.

Both vessels are undergoing two days of sea trials to demonstrate the operational profiles of the ships including vessel maneuverability, acceleration and speed. The trials are to provide the shipyards with data on control system parameters as well as peak power loads in variable weather, tide or current conditions.

“This is an important step in the bidding process for the shipyards so they can measure and verify vessel performance to provide the optimal propulsive machinery arrangements they submit as part of their bids,” Mark Wilson, BC Ferries’ Vice President of Engineering, explained.

The three shipyards bidding on the project are Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards, Remontowa SA of Poland and Fincantieri of Italy. Over the next three months, BC Ferries says, it will negotiate with the three proponents to select the final bidder and award a contract for the Spirit Class mid- life upgrades and conversions in early 2016.

BC Ferries plans for the Spirit of British Columbia to be the first ship through the MLU and LNG conversion process and commence actual conversion from the fall of 2017 through the spring of 2018, and the Spirit of Vancouver Island to follow the next year, from the fall of 2018 through the spring of 2019.

In order to accommodate the sea trials, the Coastal Celebration is replacing the Spirit of Vancouver Island on September 21 and 22. On September 23 and 24, the Queen of New Westminster fills in for the Spirit of British Columbia.

Vancouver Shipyards Hosts Ceremonial Steel Cutting

By Mark Edward Nero

Vancouver Shipyards, a Seaspan company, has begun construction on the first ship being built under Canada's National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS), a Canadian Coast Guard offshore fisheries science vessel (OFSV).

On hand June 24 for the ceremonial steel cutting were Diane Finley, Canada’s Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Parliament members Andrew Saxton and John Weston.

It was also announced that the first ship is being named CCGS Sir John Franklin in honor of the Arctic explorer whose expeditions nearly 200 years ago laid the foundations of Canada’s claims of Arctic sovereignty.

The steel-cutting event follows the recent award of an incentive-based build contract to Vancouver Shipyards for the construction of three OFSVs, which are to be delivered together under a ceiling price of $514 million before the end of 2017. Following the completion of the OFSVs, Seaspan is expected to then build one Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel (OOSV), two Joint Support Ships (JSS), one Polar Icebreaker (PIB) as well as up to five Medium Endurance Multi-Tasked Vessels (MEMTV) and up to five Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV), with more opportunities to follow in the future.

“Seaspan is changing the course of shipbuilding history on the west coast of Canada, and today's ceremony marks the most significant milestone yet for the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy,” Seaspan Shipyards President Brian Carter said. “Today is day one of many years to come of planned ship production at Vancouver Shipyards for the Canadian Coast Guard and the Royal Canadian Navy.”

Seaspan Completes Shipyard Modernization

By Mark Edward Nero

Seaspan-owned Vancouver Shipyards on Nov. 6 officially celebrated the completion of a two-year, $170 million shipyard modernization project.

The project, funded entirely by coastal transport company Seaspan Marine Corp., transformed Vancouver Shipyards into one of the most modern facilities in North America, and is expected to allow for the effective and efficient delivery of vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy.

The new facilities include Canada’s largest permanent gantry crane, four new fabrication buildings and a new load-out pier.

“We have built a state-of-the-art shipyard right here in North Vancouver, tailor-made to support Seaspan’s role as the non-combat capability provider to the Government of Canada’s National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy,” Seaspan CEO Jonathan Whitworth said.

The completion of the modernization project coincides with the commencement of construction on two initial blocks for the first ship, the Canadian Coast Guard’s Offshore Fisheries Science Vessel, slated for completion by the summer of 2016.

“We have begun our work for the Canadian Coast Guard on the initial blocks of the first Offshore Fisheries Science Vessel,” Seaspan Shipyards President Brian Carter said. “We estimate the new vessel construction work we will do for the Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy will result in the creation of 5,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs over the next 20 years, produce almost $500 million per year in gross domestic product for B.C.’s economy, and mean thousands of people will get the opportunity for an exciting career in shipbuilding.”

Once full production on the new vessels commences in the spring of 2015, Seaspan says, it will also create stable work over the next decade for suppliers throughout British Columbia and across Canada.

In addition to the Vancouver Shipyards project, Seaspan has invested an additional $15 million to upgrade facilities at Victoria Shipyards. Work, which includes a new operations center to support testing, trials and commissioning of the new federal vessels, is expected to be complete by the end of 2014.

Vancouver Shipyards Awarded Ferry Contract

By Mark Edward Nero

Canadian vessel design, construction and repair company Vancouver Shipyards has been awarded a $15 million contract for the construction of a new cable ferry to service a route between Buckley Bay and Denman Island for BC Ferries.

Vancouver Shipyards, a subsidiary of Seaspan Marine, received the contract award after a competitive procurement process that included three shortlisted shipyards – two in Canada and one in the United States.

The 257-foot cable ferry is expected to be built to accommodate up to 50 vehicles and 150 passengers. Construction is scheduled to start in June, 2014, with delivery of the vessel slated for the first quarter of 2015, with operation beginning by the summer of 2015.

“We are proud to partner with BC Ferries to build its first-ever cable ferry,” Seaspan Shipyards President Brian Carter said in a statement. “This cable ferry will allow us to fine-tune our skilled workforce as we prepare for efficient construction of the Offshore Fisheries Science Vessel (OFSV) for the Canadian Coast Guard this fall.”

Seaspan has a multi-year, multi-billion dollar opportunity to build up to 17 vessels for the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Coast Guard under the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS).

However, Seaspan is in the second year of a two-year, $200 million modernization project, scheduled for completion by early Fall 2014. After this, construction of the first NSPS non-combat vessel is expected to take place in October, 2014.

“Our capacity in the coming years will be consumed by this work and we look forward to opening up efficient commercial shipbuilding at Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards, including future BC Ferries new builds and mid-life upgrades, once the early NSPS vessels are successfully delivered,” Carter said.

Shortlist for LNG Ferry Contract Revealed

Victoria, British Columbia-based BC Ferries has announced that five shipyards, including one in North America, have made the shortlist for consideration of a contract to build three new liquid natural gas-powered ferries.

BC Ferries has issued a request for proposals to the five shipyards to build three intermediate class ferries to replace the 48-year old Queen of Burnaby and the 49-year old Queen of Nanaimo, both of which are nearing the end of their service lives and are scheduled to be retired in 2016.

The one North American company out of the five pre-qualified shipyards is Vancouver Shipyards Co., an affiliate of Seaspan Marine Corp., which is an association of Canadian companies involved in coastal and deep sea transportation, bunkering, ship repair and shipbuilding services in Western North America.

The other four shipyards under consideration are Fiskerstrand Blrt As, of Norway; Germany-based Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft mbH & Co.KG; Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. of Poland; and Turkish company Sefine Shipyard.

BC Ferries says it intends to build two vessels capable of carrying 145 vehicles and up to 600 passengers and crew to replace the two aging ferries. A third vessel capable of carrying 125 vehicles and up to 600 passengers and crew is also being built to augment peak and shoulder season service on the Southern Gulf Islands route, plus provide refit relief around the fleet.

The three would be BC Ferries’ first LNG-powered vessels. In its request for proposals, BC Ferries stipulated that the three vessels be designed to operate on either liquefied natural gas or marine diesel oil.

“We expect to operate these new intermediate class ferries with LNG, which will reduce our fuel costs, and in turn help reduce the upward pressure on fares,” Mark Wilson, BC Ferries’ Vice President of Engineering said.

“Currently we operate 18 classes of vessels in a fleet of 35 ships,” Wilson said. “This project is the stepping stone to eventually bring the fleet into potentially five classes of vessels.”

The RFP closes at the end of February and BC Ferries says it expects to award a contract next spring. The two-145 vehicle ferries are expected to enter service in 2016; the 125-vehicle ferry is expected to be in service in 2017.