New BC Ferries vessels won’t be built by North Vancouver shipyard

It seems the five new major vessels BC Ferries plans to add to its fleet within the next five years will not be built in the province.

In a news release Thursday, Seaspan, the North Vancouver-based shipbuilding company, confirmed that it had “assessed the competition” for the new major vessel program and decided against making a bid for construction rights.

Seaspan says BC Ferries’ program “does not support the opportunity for the B.C. maritime sector to make a meaningful contribution.”

It says Canadian shipyards and their supply chain can’t compete with other countries with lower wages, and lower safety and environmental standards.

“As BC Ferries has outlined in their press release, cost is a primary issue, and therefore, no bidder will be incentivized to include significant Canadian/BC domestic content in their bids,” the company said.

BC Ferries’ executive director of communications, Jeff Groot, says it’s “premature to speculate about where the vessels will be built.”

In a statement to 1130 NewsRadio, Groot says BC Ferries is still open to all prequalified shipyards, including “includes local, national, and international representation.”

“Our competitive process is designed to select the shipyard that best meets BC Ferries’ technical, financial, and operational needs, while keeping customer priorities at the forefront. Our customers have been clear – affordability and reliability are their top concerns. Regardless of the shipyard’s location, BC Ferries will not compromise on safety, which remains central to our operations, alongside worker welfare and environmental impact,” said Groot.

Seaspan’s senior vice president of strategy, business development and communications, David Hargreaves, tells 1130 NewsRadio it makes sense that BC Ferries is prioritizing its budget and timeline.

“Which is fair, but that that really takes us, in B.C., out of the game,” said Hargreaves.

He says Seaspan is prepared to build ships the same size as BC Ferries new vessels are expected to be, but it isn’t supported by the provincial government to do so affordably.

“Other provinces in Canada (particularly Quebec) are supporting their shipyards aggressively by requiring domestic build and providing tax credits, forgivable loans and grants well in excess of $1 billion to their shipyards. This contributes to a significant competitive disadvantage for BC shipyards and workers,” the company said.

Hargreaves says B.C. could learn from Quebec and “consider using some of those mechanisms as well to to support their shipbuilding industry that’s here.”

Groot says BC Ferries is committed to supporting the local economy, including by contributing $15 million annually to local shipyards — like Seaspan.

Last week, BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez told 1130 NewsRadio that the Ferry Commissioner still has to approve the project, but they’re hoping to get the first of the five new vessels in the water by 2029 — with all of them operating by 2031.

BC Ferries says it needs seven new vessels in total, but will look at adding in the remaining two ships later on.

Seaspan says it will continue to make the case to the province to build ferries in B.C.

“We are hopeful that the BC Government will work with our BC industry team to build some of the seven vessels, particularly the last two, in BC,” it said.

“BC should seize the opportunity to build some of the NMVs here at home and generate the significant socio-economic benefits associated with capital projects of this size.”

1130 NewsRadio has reached out to BC Ferries for comment.