Newfoundland company to design Canada’s newest polar icebreaker
MOUNT PEARL — A Mount Pearl-based 3D design company is once again being buoyed by Ottawa's National Ship-building Strategy (NSS), reviving a longstanding relationship with a Vancouver ship manufacturing company to design a new polar icebreaker.
Recently, the federal government announced that Vancouver, B.C.'S Seaspan Shipyards would build one of two new flagship icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard.
In a May 7 news release, Mount Pearl's Genoa Design officials announced its partnership with Seaspan to offer 3D modelling and product design services for the vessel.
Genoa has a long history of partnership with Seaspan since the beginning of work under the NSS in 2012. The company supported Seaspan's delivery of the first ship under the NSS in 2019 and the first full class of completed vessels under the NSS in 2020.
It has grown exponentially since 2012. Genoa contributed $30 million to the provincial GDP in 2020, according to the company's release.
Gina Pecore, CEO for Genoa Design, said the latest partnership represents another step in the ongoing business relationship between Genoa and Seaspan.
"Genoa has proudly supported Seaspan's delivery of three stateof-the-art ships to the Canadian Coast Guard, and we look forward to building on this momentum with Canada's new Polar Icebreaker."
The new polar icebreaker will be 150 metres long and 28 metres wide and able to accommodate up to 100 personnel. It will also operate farther north, in more difficult ice conditions and for longer periods than any current icebreaker Canada has.