A team of four engineers from the Korean shipyard giant STX Offshore and Shipbuilding Company Ltd. is currently in North Vancouver to recommend the most efficient way to redesign Vancouver Shipyards.
Seaspan, the parent company of Vancouver Shipyards, recently signed a deal with STX for the Korean shipbuilders to recommend the best way to upgrade the local shipyard to get ready for work on the new $8-billion federal shipbuilding contract.
Seaspan is expecting to invest about $150 million in the shipyard in advance of cutting the first steel for federal non-combat ships.
"We are redesigning our facility," said Brain Carter, president of Vancouver Shipyards. "We want to make the shipyard most efficient."
STX is one of the largest shipbuilding companies in the world, currently producing about 60 vessels a year. Carter said the company has vast expertise in designing workflow in shipyards so vessels are built as efficiently as possible. The more efficient the shipyard, the lower the cost each vessel can be built for.
The four engineers are expected to take about a month to come up with a report and recommendations, which will focus on shop layouts, flow of material and production methods.
Earlier this month, Seaspan applauded an announcement by the federal government that it will build more ships than the seven originally announced as part of the national shipbuilding program.
The federal contract for the non-combat ships includes $8 billion for fisheries research ships, coast guard vessels, icebreakers and navy support ships over the next 20 years.
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