Major deal in the works to ‘revitalize’ Niagara shipyard
Heddle says partnership with B.C. firm would create work at Port Weller
Previously shut out of the federal government’s plan to rebuild its Navy and Coast Guard fleets, Heddle Shipyards now has a foot in the door and a chance at gaining work in the multibillion-dollar project.
Heddle has reached a deal with British Columbia-based Seaspan Shipyards that could bring long-term work to the company’s Port Weller dry docks as well as its yards in Hamilton and Thunder Bay.
If Seaspan is selected to build the new polar icebreaker, Heddle will be a “strategic partner and supplier” to construct components for it at its three yards, said Heddle president Shaun Padulo.
Both sides say they plan to work together in the future, regardless of whether Seaspan is awarded the contract.
“With a project like this that would offer long-term sustainability, I think we could completely revitalize that yard and bring it back to where it was at one time,” said Padulo.
He called the partnership with Seaspan “far and away the best opportunity that we’ve had with the whole program.”
Seaspan and Irving Shipyards in
Nova Scotia, both among Canada’s largest yards, are the two private partners in the national shipbuilding strategy.
In 2011, Seaspan was named to build the large, noncombat vessels (though the polar icebreaker was not included), while Irving builds the combat vessels.
Canadian Coast Guard requires the new polar icebreaker by 2029. Exact specifications aren’t completed, but it would be 150 metres long — about half the length of an average Great Lakes freighter — and 28 metres wide.
It would be capable of breaking through up to 2.5 metres of ice, provide minimal exposure to extreme weather conditions for the crew, and contain both a helicopter pad and garage for vehicle storage.
The coast guard’s existing icebreaker, the Louis S. St-laurent, is the only ship in the Canadian fleet capable of operating year-round in the Arctic but is in its sixth decade of service.
“From Seaspan’s perspective we’re very excited to work with someone with Heddle’s history and capabilities,” said Seaspan chief executive officer Mark Lamarre.
His company invested $185 million to upgrade its Vancouver facilities to accommodate the federal work.
With the government requiring the polar icebreaker by 2029, “it’ll take four or five years to do the actual construction,” said Lamarre.
“Then there is a bunch of work in design and engineering that needs to be done in advance of that.”
After learning more about Heddle during its unsuccessful campaign to be made the third partner in the national shipbuilding strategy, he said a partnership “just seemed like a natural alignment.”
On Monday, Padulo said, “I personally feel the best thing that ever happened to us was we were disqualified from becoming the third yard, because it opened up this opportunity with Seaspan.”
Lamarre wouldn’t speculate on when the government would award the contract to build the polar icebreaker or on its price tag.
Over the winter at Port Weller, Heddle had about 250 employees and contractors doing repairs and upgrades on two ships.
Currently about 100 people work there, with a coast guard icebreaker in for work.
The national shipbuilding strategy was introduced about 10 years ago to upgrade coast guard and Armed Forces vessels.
As well, it provided steady, predictable work to the Canadian shipbuilding industry that previously went through boom-and-bust cycles.
Seaspan has already begun work on offshore fisheries science vessels while Irving is constructing arctic offshore patrol ships.