Wheatley firm signs $36M deal for Coast Guard vessels
Hike Metal Products contracted to build four more search and rescue lifeboats
A local shipbuilder is in hiring mode after landing a $36-million contract extension to build four more search and rescue lifeboats for the Canadian Coast Guard.
“We are looking for people,” said Steve Ingram, vice-president of operations for Hike Metal Products.
He said they will need another dozen workers, including pipefitters, engine or marine fitters, painters and labourers to handle the extra work.
Hike Metal and Chantier Naval Forillon in Quebec, were each selected to build four more of the vessels for the Coast Guard. The two companies were each previously awarded contracts worth more than $40 million to build six search and rescue lifeboats. The contract extension was announced by the federal government on Thursday. The contracts were awarded under the small vessel component of the National Shipbuilding Strategy and will help maintain well-paying, middle-class jobs at both shipyards, stated a media release.
With the ability to operate up to 100 nautical miles from shore, the new high-endurance lifeboats will enhance the Coast Guard’s search and rescue capabilities. Vessels from this class are named after bays in Canada and are being built under the Federal Infrastructure Initiative, the Fleet Renewal Plan and Oceans Protection Plan, stated the release.
Ingram said taking on four new vessels will extend the work to 2023.
“We are still looking at other orders and growing and developing and partnering with other people,” he said.
Ingram said the lifeboats are among the most high-tech built by Hike Metal, adding the company has built other search and rescue lifeboats before. “Twenty years ago, we built the predecessor, which these are replacing in many areas,” he said. Ingram said two of the lifeboats have been delivered to the Coast Guard from Hike and another two are in production.
He noted one vessel is currently outside being outfitted with the engines and the interior components now that the exterior shell has been completed and painted. He added construction of the hull on another lifeboat is underway inside the shop. Ingram said they try to have two boats in production at all times, adding it takes about 18 months to build one of the vessels.