The order books as Seaspan’s North Vancouver shipyard just got a lot longer as the federal government has announced up to 10 more non-combat Coast Guard vessels worth $3.3 billion will be built there.
Federal ministers and Seaspan management made the announcement before a crowd of shipyard workers Monday morning.
Planning is now underway to build five 65-metre medium endurance multi-tasked vessels and five 65-metre offshore patrol vessels. These are in addition to the polar icebreaker, fisheries science vessels and offshore oceanographic already announced for Seaspan.
Asked what the 10 new ships would mean for local employment, Seaspan president Brian Carter said the government contracts would keep the shipyard humming with more than 1,000 employees for the next 20 to 30 years.
