SEASPAN officials say a federal contract to build seven non-combat vessels will pave the way to resurrecting a shipbuilding industry in B.C.
But they acknowledge that won't happen overnight. Some of the most valuable components going into the first ships built - including electronics systems - will likely be manufactured overseas.
Under Ottawa's national shipbuilding program, the ships built for the federal government must be built in Canada. But that requirement only applies to metal fabrication of the hull, decks, superstructure and masts of the ship. According to a recent report on the shipbuilding project from the parliamentary budget officer, that cost sometimes only accounts for 35 to 50 per cent of a ship's value.
The remaining components are likely to be supplied by subcontractors who will buy them from overseas suppliers.
Under the contract requirements, subcontractors who buy ship components overseas must spend an amount of money equal to that value in Canada - although not necessarily on the shipbuilding project.
Some outsourcing is unavoidable in the early stages of the shipbuilding project, said Brian Carter, president of Vancouver Shipyards.
Large ships' engines, for instance, are not made anywhere in Canada. Software and electronics going in to large vessels like the joint support ships will likely also come from other countries with more recent experience building military ships.
Because local shipyards have been focused on ship repair and maintenance of mid-sized commercial ships - not large construction projects - for the last several decades, "the ecosystem of suppliers that supply the shipbuilding industry left," said Carter. "It'll take some time to build that back up."
But under the federal program, "the industry is in a good situation to rebuild itself," he said.
The industry is working with economic development agencies like Western Economic Diversification to develop manufacturing partnerships in Canada, he said.
Also under federal contract requirements, Seaspan must invest half of a per cent of the contract value in development of the marine industry in Canada.
Seaspan currently has partnerships with five companies that will subcontract on the shipbuilding projects - STX Marine, ImTech Marine Canada, Thales Canada, Computer Sciences Corporation and Alion Canada. All are Canadian subsidiaries of large international companies specializing in shipbuilding, marine technology and defence contracts.
Many of the more than 40 professionals recently hired by Seaspan to work on the project have also come from other countries because that expertise wasn't available locally. Carter himself joined Seaspan after a decade with U.S. shipyard that built large military vessels.
But Carter said Seaspan won't be looking outside Canada's borders when it comes to hiring the hundreds of additional tradesmen and women who will actually build the ships.
"We're absolutely not looking outside of Canada for a production workforce," he said. "We've proven we're able to bring in skilled Canadians. They're well trained and well educated," he said.
Under the shipbuilding strategy, Ottawa is entering into separate contracts for the design and building of the federal ships.
Recently Seaspan signed a $15.7 million deal for design work. Carter said the company expects to sign the first construction contract - for an offshore fisheries and science vessel - early next year.
Contracts for the two largest vessels - the joint support ships for the navy, budgeted at $2.6 billion - will likely come later in the project.
