SHIPYARDS
Esquimalt Graving Dock
For much of 2014, the Esquimalt Graving Dock, which serves the nearby naval base and local shipyards, was 64 per cent booked. This year, the huge drydock facility is running at 51 per cent and climbing. Revenues topped $10.2 million in 2013-2014 and were slightly lower in 2014-2015 at $8.2 million. The link pin for much of the shipyard work in the region, the Esquimalt Graving Dock spent $2.3 million sprucing itself up through capital works in the past year. This included minor infrastructure improvement projects, such as electrical system refurbishments, pumping system rehabilitation, air compressor replacement, rehabilitation of marine structures, and security-related projects. There are no current expansion plans by owners Public Works and Government Services Canada.
Point Hope Maritime
For this Victoria Inner Harbour shipyard, 2014 was another steady year, according to General Manager Hank Bekkering who added “it was business as usual.” There was some SNC-Lavalin ABS work for the Canadian Navy, but the steady diet for the yard was of local tugs and boats. One U.S. boat came to the yard last fall and Bekkering knows that if
Photo courtesy Esquimalt Drydock Company
the FELEX work. There is also expected to be a post-FELEX continuous maintenance cycle for the yard. And there’s more. Thanks to its FELEX success, the shipyard has the contract to do a similar mid-life modernization on two New Zealand Navy frigates, the Te Kaha and the Te Mana, set for 2017. The yard also has a long-term, in-service maintenance contract for Canada’s four Upholder Class submarines, saying goodbye to HMCS Chicoutimi after completion last year and hello to HMCS Corner Brook this summer. Last year’s highlights included a first for the Victoria Shipyards; a scrubber was installed on the cruise ship Pacific Princess which proved “a bit of a learning curve for the yard.” Seaspan sent key staff to visit foreign facilities to find out more about the process in what O’Rourke says has become “a nice addition to our capabilities.” The roll-on, roll-off cargo ship Midnight Sun from the fleet of Totem Ocean Trailer Express was in for maintenance while other routine work included vessels from the Canadian Coast Guard, BC Ferries (the Spirit of British Columbia), and a variety of fishing boats. In 2015, the cameras went snap happy with the dry docking of the cruise ship Crown Princess for an 11-day, 400-worker going over, which included the installation of two scrubbers, taking advantage of the yard’s new capability. The Ruby Princess will call this December for a similar two-scrubber installation and other work over 11 hectic days. The 340-foot U.S. fishing trawler American Triumph had a complex replacement of an old refrigeration unit with a new ammonia system in April-May. O’Rourke says the shipyards employed 700 people on average and has had no problem attracting workers to Victoria Shipyards, which, he says, has the highest wage structure in B.C. and a steady 2,000 hours of work in a year. “We look after our own, building and training them and have a strong apprenticeship program,” he adds. “We have very little turnover.” Under the NSPS, Victoria Shipyards will do the trial and commissioning of all vessels built at the Vancouver Shipyards and at the peak of all work will employ about 1,000 people.
The FRPD 309 was dry docked at Esquimalt Drydock Company for some underwater work.
the Canadian dollar stays down it will be good for business. BC Ferries’ Quadra Queen was also in for two weeks last June for regular maintenance. The navy work on the Marine Coastal Defence Vessels HMCS Nanaimo and HMCS Saskatoon last year and HMCS Edmonton so far this year included tank inspection, underwater blast and paint of the hulls, sea valves, extensive system overhauls and minor steel repairs. The yard, which employs up to 40 full-time workers, also serviced several of the Orca class training and patrol vessels on regular maintenance work.
Esquimalt Drydock Company
“It was not a bad year,” says Esquimalt Drydock Company Superintendent & Dockmaster Norm Wickett. Situated nearby the largest graving dock in the province, the yard also has 2,000 feet of lay berthage for alongside work and an on-site crane with a capacity of 150 tons. U.S. shipyard Dakota Creek sent its floating drydock Arctic Kibvayok in for a full blast and paint and some steel work last August; BC Ferries’ Quinsam was in for minor running repairs; Fraser River Pile & Dredge sent its FRPD 309 in for two new funnels; and about nine yacht loadings or discharges were done. A $12-million midlife upgrade of the Queen of Capilano, which took from early January through early May, started 2015 on a high note. The work — done in drydock and alongside — included new galley decks, increasing vehicle capacity from 85 to 100 on the Bowen Island run; a new upper entrance/exit for walk-on passengers; a new evacuation system; a new rescue boat; installation of a pet area; updated stairwell and disability washroom; and an improved ship intercom and public address system. The larger Queen of Burnaby came in for five days for a propeller change and replacement of blades on one hub. The FRPD 309 was dry docked for underwater work; a changeout of the variable pitch hub blades; steelwork on the hopper doors; and
July/August 2015 BC Shipping News 21