Post by ferryfast admin on Aug 27, 2011 15:36:47 GMT -5
Seaspan shipshape for contract
Shipyard wants to be ready in case it's awarded government work
By Carla Wilson, Times Colonist August 26, 2011
North Vancouver-based Seaspan Marine is gearing up to respond immediately if it is successful in the highstakes bidding war for federal shipbuilding contracts.
Weeks are counting down to the announcement about which of two out of the three Canadian shipyards competing will be selected for two packages of work, one for combat and one for non-combat vessels.
"We are working on our facilities plan. We are also making preparations for negotiations with the government on the umbrella contract, and the future new [shipbuilding] contracts," John Shaw, Seaspan vicepresident of program management, said Thursday.
Each of the two packages, representing a number of contracts, will be covered by an umbrella agreement.
Seaspan, owner of Victoria Shipyards in Esquimalt, Vancouver Shipyards and Vancouver Drydock, is one of three companies bidding for a total of $33 billion in contracts to build large vessels. It is up against Irving Shipbuilding of Halifax and the new owners of Davie Canada, a large shipyard in Levis, Quebec. Work awarded to Davie would be carried out by a consortium made up of Upper Lakes of Ontario, Daewoo of South Korea, and Montreal's SNCLavalin.
Should Seaspan get a contract, new facilities and equipment would be set up in North Vancouver and Esquimalt, including manufacturing facilities and offices, Shaw said.
Human resources planning is underway and talks have taken place with unions representing shipyard workers to line up staffing, he said.
Shaw is optimistic. "We are making preparations so that we are running full speed ahead as soon as we get the announcement."
So far, federal officials have not sought clarification about Seaspan's bid, Shaw said. "We spent a lot of time and effort to make sure we had a very complete and comprehensive package that answered all of the questions."
Each bidder and each province desperately hopes to win one of these packages, which will guarantee years of steady production and thousands of jobs, and generate economic spinoffs.
Another $2 billion worth of work for smaller ships is also coming up under the national shipbuilding procurement strategy.
Bids for the large vessels were submitted July 21. The decision-making is expected to take about two months.
The procurement strategy was crafted to keep politics out of the decision and minimize subjectivity as much as possible. The evaluation process, outlined to reporters in a technical briefing in July, will see bids assessed on a rating system, made up of hundreds of lines of scores. Results from this process will be presented to a deputy ministers' committee for validation.
A shipyard's current state and plans account for 60 per cent of the total score. The cost to Canada for upgrades and improvements is worth 20 per cent. A shipyard's financial capability and source of funding is worth 10 per cent. The final 10 per cent considers how yards plan to improve their competitive ability and contribute to the health of the Canadian marine industry over the long term.
Once the shipyards are selected, the umbrella agreements will be negotiated. That is expected to be complete by year's end.
It is anticipated that contracts for individual projects will be negotiated at the start of 2012.
cjwilson@timescolonist.com
Read more: www.timescolonist.com/Seaspan+shipshape+contract/5311674/story.html#ixzz1WGPEPq7O