Seaspan Partner Profile: Safway Services Canada
Have you ever seen a prefabricated home being assembled? Large sections are precision-built in a controlled setting and then brought onsite to be put together. Modern shipbuilding uses a comparable approach called block construction where large segments (blocks) of the ship are built at different stages and in different parts of the yard, before being moved to the building dock and lifted into position. Using this approach, modern shipyards like Seaspan’s can pre-install components and equipment like power, propulsion, electrical and water systems, and, notably the marine insulation that protects them all, provided by Seaspan partner Safway Services Canada.
Since 2017, Safway has been onsite at Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards to provide marine insulation services for the Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels (OFSV) for the Canadian Coast Guard and for the Royal Canadian Navy’s Joint Support Ships (JSS). Read more »
Ross Jespersen of Seaspan on Living the Dream
Ross Jespersen says he is lucky.
When he graduated from the University of Victoria back in April of this year, with a degree in Electrical Engineering, he jumped right into what he describes as his dream job: working on the power systems of the Sir John Franklin, the first of the three Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels (OFSV) that Seaspan is building for the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS).
That may seem like a very specific dream for a young graduate to have, but there’s a backstory. Ross is from a long line of people who have made ships and boats their business. His great-grandfather, back in Denmark worked in a shipyard, as did his father before him. When Ross’ grandfather came to Canada, he started a business building and repairing yachts in Sidney, British Columbia. Ross’ Dad runs the business now, and, at one time, Ross thought his future lay there too. That is, until he actually worked there for a few summers. “That was some pretty tough physical work,” laughs Ross, “It got me thinking, hard, about pursuing further education.” Read more »
All Stories:
- 11/16/18 - Seaspan Partner Profile: Safway Services Canada, Marine Insulation Services
- 09/05/18 - Ross Jespersen of Seaspan on Living the Dream
- 07/10/18 - Building the Next Generation of Shipbuilders
- 05/02/18 - Women in Trades Warmly Welcomed at VSL
- 03/26/18 - Industry and Academia Partner to Prepare the Shipbuilders of Tomorrow
- 03/06/18 - The Hughes Family of Seaspan: Shipbuilding is in Their Blood