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When news got out that Seaspan Marine Corporation had won an $8 billion con- tract to build non-combat vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard and the Royal Canadian Navy under Canada?s National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS), celebration broke out at Seaspan?s three shipyards?Vancouver Shipyards, Van- couver Drydock and Victoria Shipyards. That was back on October 19, 2011, and the positive energy generated that day continues to feed the mood in the yards today. A serious windfall for the west coast shipbuilding in- dustry, the NSPS contract calls for the construction of three offshore fisheries science vessels, one offshore oceanographic science vessel, two joint support ships, and one polar icebreaker. In February 2012, theumbrella agreement that outlines the program was signed, making it all official. Seaspan operates three shipyards located in southwestern British Columbia (BC), Canada. Vancouver Shipyards and Vancouver Drydock are located in North Vancouver, immediately across the harbour from Canada?s largest port?Port Metro Vancouver; and Victoria Shipyards is located across the Strait of Georgia on the southern tip of Van- couver Island, in the provincial capital city of Victoria. Both locations offer deep-sea terminals and provide new construction and repair work on a variety of vessels. SERVING THE CANADIAN NAVY Situated on Canada's west coast, Seaspan has a longhistory of providing and maintaining vessels for the Government of Canada. Incorporated in 1902, Vancou- ver Shipyards built crash boats, minesweepers, Fairmiles and supply ships used in World War I. Currently, Victo- ria Shipyards is continuing that tradition through two large upgrade and conversion projects for the Canadian Navy?the Frigate Life Extension (FELEX) and Victo- ria Class In-Service Support Contract (VISSC) pro-grams. In February 2012, they started a large refit of the Navy?s west coast supply ship, the HMCS Protecteur. FELEXThe FELEX Canadian Navy program aims to mod- ernize 12 Canadian patrol frigates. Victoria Shipyard?s portion of the program includes two simultaneous major contracts; the FELEX contract with Canada and theCombat System Integration (CSI) Subcontract with Lockheed Martin. These contracts will keep Victoria Shipyards busy through 2016 and engage a workforce of approximately 300 tradespeople and 30 staff. VISSCFocused on servicing four, 2400-ton diesel-electric submarines that the Canadian Navy purchased fromBritain?s Ministry of Defence, the VISSC program in- volves the planning, estimating and execution of all third-line maintenance work, consisting of refits also known as Extended Docking Work Periods (EDWPs). Seven EDWPs are scheduled for Victoria Shipyards, each lasting approximately two years. While the current mix of work at Victoria Shipyards is focused on maintenance and repair, they?ve also com- pleted several new construction projects, including the Seabus (a passenger-only ferry that is part of Vancou- ver?s transit system), vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard, as well as eight ORCA-class training vessels for the Royal Canadian Navy. VANCOUVER SHIPYARDS & VANCOUVER DRYDOCK Vancouver Shipyards is unique in that it?s the home- port of the Seaspan tug and barge fleet (which includesmore than 100 vessels) and is also where the fleet is re- paired and maintained. Brian Carter, President of Sea- span Shipyards, believes there's an advantage to being both a dedicated homeport and a repair facility. ?It does give us a leg up as we design and construct vessels, be- cause one of the things we can really do that adds value to Canada is to design and build ships that can be effi- ciently serviced later on,? says Carter, who was origi- nally hired to provide guidance on the company's bid to win the NSPS contract and quickly became an integral part of the winning team. Carter assumed the role ofPresident on a full-time basis in January 2012.Though Vancouver Shipyards' current projects range from commercial new construction and repair of the smaller vessels in Seaspan?s fleet, to third-party repair work, it will eventually be the site for approximately 95 percent of the NSPS work. By 2016, when the project reaches its apex, the number of staff at the yard is ex- pected to expand from over 200 employees to 1,000. Vancouver Drydock is currently focused on providing ocean-going ship repair for vessels that call on the re- gion and occasional mid-life upgrades for vessels such as the BC Ferries fleet. It?s not uncommon for impres- sive vessels to be spotted there; currently work is un- derway on a cruise ship and prior work has included repairs to vessels like the Sea Launch Commander (the command ship for Sea Launch, an oil-rig turned rocket launcher based in Long Beach, California).Responsible for delivering the long-term strategic plans for all three of Seaspan's shipyards, Carter fore- sees a shift in focus across the three shipyards as a whole, saying ?Overall I would say we?re a repair com- pany that does some new construction work. We will be- come a new construction company that does some repair work once NSPS is underway.? $200 MILLION IN MODERNIZATION The NSPS contract brings with it some unique chal-lenges, not the least of which will be to construct theJoint Support Ships, which once constructed, will be thelargest ships ever built on Canada?s west coast. In order to prepare for this construction, Seaspan is investing $200 million in a shipyard modernization project to bring the yards to the current level and standard of ship- building technology. The investments and upgrades aren?t intended to in- 52Maritime Reporter & Engineering News Seaspan Builds for the Future Canada?s west coast shipbuilding industry powers forward Edited by Greg Trauthwein ?We?re focused on building an efficient and flexible shipyard that will allow us to bring value toCanada by efficiently building NSPS vessels, but also be flexibleenough to build, as capacity allows, for other customers.?Brian Carter, President, Seaspan Shipyards MR June12 # 7 (50-56):MR Template 6/11/2012 1:22 PM Page 52