Point Hope says graving dock would create 200 trades jobs
Proposal adjacent to Dockside Green under review by city, federal departments
A new graving dock at Point Hope Maritime would generate a steady stream of business that would create 200 new trades jobs and support a growing apprenticeship program.
That’s the expectation from Point Hope Maritime, which recently staged a public open house. Not only would the project bring jobs, but it would generate many millions of dollars worth of work in Victoria’s Upper Harbour.
Ian Maxwell, founder of the Ralmax Group of Companies, which includes Point Hope, said that building a graving dock delivering reliable service would attract more work from the U.S.
Point Hope concentrates on ship repair.
“We have some strategic alliances with some other companies that we work with, and some of them have vessels that they are going to bring to us,” Maxwell said. “I think that some of the fleet owners are going to be very happy to bring us their vessels on a steady basis.”
Plans call for a graving dock running 571 feet long, 115 feet wide and 20 feet deep. It would be able to service vessels up to 560 feet long.
A gate midway would permit two smaller vessels in at the same time.
Graving docks work by allowing vessels to float inside.
Once there, the water is pumped out and the vessel rests on blocks, allowing workers to gain access to areas normally underwater.
It is expected that one large vessel would pull in every three weeks.
Point Hope’s ship-repair focus was fortified in June, when it signed a fiveyear deal with B.C. Ferries to perform maintenance and repair work on eight smaller ferries.
A development permit application for the graving dock has gone to Victoria city hall .
A federal application was submitted in June to Transport Canada, which oversees a permitting process that also involves Environment Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Maxwell figures the graving dock would take up to two years to build and cost at least $50 million, but costs have not been finalized.
Adding a graving dock to Point Hope, which Maxwell bought in 2003, would allow the operation to expand its apprenticeship-training program.