British Columbia-based Seaspan Shipyards is set to build the first of two new heavy polar icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard later this year, the company revealed Aug. 21. So far, about 80% of the functional design for the icebreaker has been completed, with production design on schedule to support cutting steel in late 2024, according to Seaspan. When completed, the polar icebreaker is expected to be 158 meters (518 feet) long and 28 (about 92 feet) meters wide, and can accommodate up to 100 people. “It will be able to operate farther north, in more difficult ice conditions and for longer periods than any icebreaker in Canada to date,” according to the company. Seaspan has been building 21 icebreaker-class vessels, including the ‘Polar Class 2’ polar icebreaker and 16…
British Columbia-based Seaspan Shipyards is set to build the first of two new heavy polar icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard later this year, the company revealed Aug. 21. So far, about 80% of the functional design for the icebreaker has been completed, with production design on schedule to support cutting steel in late 2024, according to Seaspan. When completed, the polar icebreaker is expected to be 158 meters (518 feet) long and 28 (about 92 feet) meters wide, and can accommodate up to 100 people. “It will be able to operate farther north, in more difficult ice conditions and for longer periods than any icebreaker in Canada to date,” according to the company. Seaspan has been building 21 icebreaker-class vessels, including the ‘Polar Class 2’ polar icebreaker, and 16…
Days before this issue of Pacific Maritime went to print, news broke that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) has awarded $8.75 million to 15 shipyards in 12 states—including Hawaii, Oregon and Washington—through the Small Shipyard Grant Program. And since the awards were announced after the issue was nearly complete and the interior pages nearly completely filled, this column is the once place where there was still room to include the news, which is why you’re reading about it here. The funds, which include nearly $2.4 million to businesses in the three above-mentioned states—are to help awardees modernize, increase productivity, and expand local employment opportunities while competing in the global marketplace, according to MARAD. Among the 2024 MARAD small shipyard grant awardees are: Bremerton, Wash.-based boat manufacturer Inventech…
Back in 1994, Bill Clinton was a year into his first term as President of the United States, gasoline cost an average of $1.12 per gallon, the film Pulp Fiction first landed in movie theatres, and Michael Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley. And there was also another momentous event that year that helped—and continues to help—shape the maritime industry on British Columbia’s West Coast: the opening of Seaspan ULC’s Victoria, British Columbia shipyard, which took place in April of that year. In 1994, the business began with one 20-foot shipping container and five managers. The facility’s first major repair job at the time was a 750-foot containership, the Columbus California. Today, Seaspan’s Victoria Shipyards employs about 800 people, is a major economic driver for the region, and has partnerships with…
Longtime maritime industry figure Douglas Dixon, who was the former general manager and director of Pacific Fishermen Shipyard in Seattle, has died. Dixon died last week after a short battle with cancer, his friend Bill Forslund told Maritime Publishing May 4. “Unfortunately my friend Doug headed to the hospital in late March with an unknown malady and was quickly diagnosed with cancer that had spread pretty much all over his body,” Forslund said. Another friend, Nathaniel Howe, said that during his lifetime, Dixon was an “unrelenting advocate for the marine trades, both in Pacific Fishermen Shipyard and in youth outreach and workforce development.” “He was instrumental in the Ballard Maritime Academy program at Ballard High School and certainly in the Youth Maritime Training Association and its scholarship program, absorbed into…
British Columbia-based ship design, engineering, building and ship repair Seaspan announced April 25 that it has reached a significant milestone: the 30th anniversary of its Victoria Shipyard. Since its founding in 1994, the yard has grown from a team of five and one 20-foot shipping container into a major ship repair and modernization facility with an 800-person workforce. “Our workforce is the heart of our business and will always be the root of our success,” Seaspan Victoria Shipyards General Manager and Vice President Tony Winter said. “Together, we stand on the values and culture that was built 30 years ago: we continue to focus on customer relationships, quality work, timely delivery and continuous improvement.” Over the last 30 years, Seaspan Victoria Shipyards has repaired 477 vessels in the drydock, including…
Ernesto Saldivar, a civilian contractor at General Dynamics NASSCO’s San Diego-area shipyard, pled guilty in March to stealing nearly $600,000 worth of computer equipment from three U.S. Navy ships. Saldivar was one of the workers who had participated in the shipyard’s ongoing Navy ship modernization efforts. According to his plea agreement, he stole hundreds of items, such as hard drives and laptops, from declassified areas on ships undergoing maintenance between November 2022 and August 2023. Saldivar was selling the stolen items, including two hard drives containing military communications, on eBay. The affected ships included the USS Pinckney, USS Curtis Wilbur and USS Spruance, all of which are guided missile destroyers that underwent updates, repairs and maintenance at NASSCO. In his plea agreement, stated that the total aggregate value of the…
Yard infrastructure projects, facility upgrades and work on notable vessels have kept West Coast shipyards busy over the past year as they take on major jobs and expand operations. Some have purchased new cranes and expanded drydocks, others completed maintenance and repowers on historic boats and a few handled unique projects. Pacific Maritime reached out to yards to find out the latest news, notable jobs and yard improvement projects. Bay Ship and Yacht Co. The big news out of Alameda, Calif.-based Bay Ship and Yacht Co. is the change to employee ownership though an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), Bay Ship and Yacht CEO Joel Welter wrote in an email to Pacific Maritime. “This transition was initiated by BSY’s owners after they explored many options and concluded that selling to…
Under Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), Seaspan Shipyards has contributed more than $5.7 billion to Canada’s GDP through its shipbuilding and repair, refit, and maintenance activities, according to a recent socio-economic study conducted by Deloitte Canada. Additionally, Seaspan is expected to contribute an additional $20.7 billion to Canada’s GDP through 2035, according to the study, which highlights the economic benefits of rebuilding the shipbuilding industry in Canada since the NSS’s introduction in June, 2010. The results of the study were released Nov. 23 by British Columbia-based Seaspan. The National Shipbuilding Strategy is a Government of Canada program operated by the Department of Public Works and Government Services. It was developed in an effort to renew the fleets of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG). Upon…
This past summer, a challenging environmental demolition project was put out for bid by Oregon’s Department of State Lands (DSL). The scrapping of an 86-foot derelict hull named Tiffany was to be a demonstration project for the agency’s new program to remove a number of the state’s larger derelict vessels. This required that the entire process meet strict standards to avoid any chance of oil or chemical spills. The contract was won by Global Diving and Salvage of Seattle, with Astoria-based WCT Marine & Construction sub-contracting the floating assets to salvage the vessel and its secure onshore location to recycle it. The proactive action was the direct result of the disastrous situation in Portland in the previous year, when the 15-year saga of two derelict military vessels over 100 feet…
