Post by ferryfast admin on Jun 7, 2011 10:12:10 GMT -5
B.C. shipyards hope to land $25-billion federal contract
JUSTINE HUNTER
www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-politics/bc-shipyards-hope-to-land-25-billion-federal-contract/article2049642/
VICTORIA— From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
Last updated Monday, Jun. 06, 2011 11:38PM EDT
Last week, the Samba Grill was filled with the sounds of grinding and hammering, the air was thick with dust, and the ceiling opened on a tangle of ductwork and wires. By Friday, passengers will be seated in the steakhouse on Deck 12 of the Radiance of the Seas, bound for Alaska.
The 10-year-old cruise ship has spent three weeks at Victoria Shipyards while 1,700 workers swarmed over it. Scattered across the decks were the contents of some 180 steel containers – new furniture, flat-screen televisions, chandeliers of titanic proportions.
More related to this story
* B.C. premier uses legislature debut to get aggressive over shipbuilding contract
* Stakes high as Nova Scotia, B.C. premiers lobby for shipbuilding contracts
It’s part of a $20-million, stem-to-stern refit – and an opportunity for British Columbia’s shipyards to showcase their capacity as the province presses for a big slice of $33-billion in federal naval contracts that will be awarded this summer.
Premier Christy Clark will tour the Seaspan dockyards in North Vancouver on Tuesday, underscoring the B.C. government’s push for the province’s “fair share” of those federal contracts.
Seaspan Marine Corp. is leading the B.C. bid, competing with shipyards in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. It is gunning for the larger of the two components – the combat ships construction program that is expected to bring in $25-billion over 29 years. An economic study produced for Seaspan concluded the contract would, in the first seven to nine years, create as much economic growth as hosting the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic games.
Attorney General Barry Penner took a dockside tour last week, using the backdrop of the busy shipyard to deliver a message to Ottawa.
“B.C. wants in,” he said. “We are prepared to lobby aggressively to make sure B.C. gets our fair share.”
Ottawa announced its national shipbuilding procurement strategy a year ago. The large-ship construction program is divided between combat and non-combat vessels and will be split between two shipyards.
Just four firms are currently approved for the bidding process, which closes on July 7. A decision is expected around the end of August or early September.
Federal Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose has rebuffed lobbyists, saying the contracts will be awarded based on merit, not politics. Still, B.C. Finance Minister Kevin Falcon is expected to travel to Ottawa next week to argue on Seaspan’s behalf.
Seaspan, meanwhile, is lobbying the B.C. government as well, hoping for some kind of financial assistance to help make its bid more attractive, such as tax credits similar to those offered to B.C.’s film industry.
Jock Finlayson, executive vice-president of the Business Council of B.C., said that is a reasonable request, given the economic benefits of bringing one of the contracts home to the West Coast.
“There is a tremendous amount of capital involved here, and the B.C. government has to decide if it is going to strengthen the competitiveness of the B.C. bid,” he said on Monday. “The other provincial governments involved are taking steps to strengthen their industry. It’s appropriate for the province to look at doing the same.”
Even without government assistance, Seaspan’s Victoria Shipyards was a competitive choice for handling the refit of the Radiance of the Seas, said Kevin Douglas, vice-president of technical projects for Royal Caribbean International.
“It’s not just an economic argument, it’s whether the shipyard has the capability to do all the work we need, is there the infrastructure around the shipyard,” he said, looking down from an upper deck of the cruise ship at the massive graving dock – 135 metres long, 38 metres wide, 17 metres deep. The ship filled the dry dock, where its hull was repainted, and the stabilizers and the Azipods – massive propellers mounted on steerable pods – were serviced.
The shipyard had just three weeks to get the ship back into service for the start of the Alaskan cruise season. The ship is scheduled to leave Esquimalt Harbour on Thursday, bound for Vancouver to pick up passengers.
“We want to get in and out quickly,” Mr. Douglas said. “On the West Coast of Canada and the U.S., this would be our choice, no question about it.”
JUSTINE HUNTER
www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-politics/bc-shipyards-hope-to-land-25-billion-federal-contract/article2049642/
VICTORIA— From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
Last updated Monday, Jun. 06, 2011 11:38PM EDT
Last week, the Samba Grill was filled with the sounds of grinding and hammering, the air was thick with dust, and the ceiling opened on a tangle of ductwork and wires. By Friday, passengers will be seated in the steakhouse on Deck 12 of the Radiance of the Seas, bound for Alaska.
The 10-year-old cruise ship has spent three weeks at Victoria Shipyards while 1,700 workers swarmed over it. Scattered across the decks were the contents of some 180 steel containers – new furniture, flat-screen televisions, chandeliers of titanic proportions.
More related to this story
* B.C. premier uses legislature debut to get aggressive over shipbuilding contract
* Stakes high as Nova Scotia, B.C. premiers lobby for shipbuilding contracts
It’s part of a $20-million, stem-to-stern refit – and an opportunity for British Columbia’s shipyards to showcase their capacity as the province presses for a big slice of $33-billion in federal naval contracts that will be awarded this summer.
Premier Christy Clark will tour the Seaspan dockyards in North Vancouver on Tuesday, underscoring the B.C. government’s push for the province’s “fair share” of those federal contracts.
Seaspan Marine Corp. is leading the B.C. bid, competing with shipyards in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. It is gunning for the larger of the two components – the combat ships construction program that is expected to bring in $25-billion over 29 years. An economic study produced for Seaspan concluded the contract would, in the first seven to nine years, create as much economic growth as hosting the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic games.
Attorney General Barry Penner took a dockside tour last week, using the backdrop of the busy shipyard to deliver a message to Ottawa.
“B.C. wants in,” he said. “We are prepared to lobby aggressively to make sure B.C. gets our fair share.”
Ottawa announced its national shipbuilding procurement strategy a year ago. The large-ship construction program is divided between combat and non-combat vessels and will be split between two shipyards.
Just four firms are currently approved for the bidding process, which closes on July 7. A decision is expected around the end of August or early September.
Federal Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose has rebuffed lobbyists, saying the contracts will be awarded based on merit, not politics. Still, B.C. Finance Minister Kevin Falcon is expected to travel to Ottawa next week to argue on Seaspan’s behalf.
Seaspan, meanwhile, is lobbying the B.C. government as well, hoping for some kind of financial assistance to help make its bid more attractive, such as tax credits similar to those offered to B.C.’s film industry.
Jock Finlayson, executive vice-president of the Business Council of B.C., said that is a reasonable request, given the economic benefits of bringing one of the contracts home to the West Coast.
“There is a tremendous amount of capital involved here, and the B.C. government has to decide if it is going to strengthen the competitiveness of the B.C. bid,” he said on Monday. “The other provincial governments involved are taking steps to strengthen their industry. It’s appropriate for the province to look at doing the same.”
Even without government assistance, Seaspan’s Victoria Shipyards was a competitive choice for handling the refit of the Radiance of the Seas, said Kevin Douglas, vice-president of technical projects for Royal Caribbean International.
“It’s not just an economic argument, it’s whether the shipyard has the capability to do all the work we need, is there the infrastructure around the shipyard,” he said, looking down from an upper deck of the cruise ship at the massive graving dock – 135 metres long, 38 metres wide, 17 metres deep. The ship filled the dry dock, where its hull was repainted, and the stabilizers and the Azipods – massive propellers mounted on steerable pods – were serviced.
The shipyard had just three weeks to get the ship back into service for the start of the Alaskan cruise season. The ship is scheduled to leave Esquimalt Harbour on Thursday, bound for Vancouver to pick up passengers.
“We want to get in and out quickly,” Mr. Douglas said. “On the West Coast of Canada and the U.S., this would be our choice, no question about it.”