November 3, 2025
Seaspan Shipyards is proud to share that Jim Carr, Senior Vice President – Engineering, has been named a SNAME (Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers) Fellow for 2025.
Jim has been a valuable member of Seaspan’s executive team since 2018. When Jim joined Seaspan seven years ago, he brought with him more than 30 years of experience working in the shipbuilding industry. He had gained valuable knowledge in the design and construction of vessels working on ships for the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard, as well as the Royal Australian Navy, while serving in senior roles at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works and Raytheon Australia.
By bringing that knowledge with him to the Seaspan team in North Vancouver, Jim has played a critical role in the success of the organization under the National Shipbuilding Strategy, by providing astute leadership during a time of unprecedented growth for the marine industry in Canada.
Re-establishing the shipbuilding industry in Canada has meant building teams from limited experience and know-how. Under Jim’s leadership and direction, Seaspan has now built Canada’s largest marine design and engineering team — a diverse, highly-capable domestic capacity which has evolved significantly through the adoption of worldwide best practices tailored to the Canadian market. Under Jim’s guidance, Seaspan has completely transformed how ship design and engineering is applied in Canada. Seaspan’s engineering and design capability has evolved considerably since the first class of ships were designed and built under the NSS. Today, Seaspan is able to complete design and engineering of large, complex vessels, utilizing our extensive in-house capability which did not exist in this country a decade ago.
Seaspan’s depth of capability is one which sets us apart from other organizations in Canada, such so that we have been recently recognized internationally, with Seaspan’s Multi-Purpose Icebreaker design being selected for the U.S. Coast Guard’s new fleet of Arctic Security Cutters.
With a focus on continuous growth and learning, Jim has carried this enormous responsibility of building one of the largest and most capable engineering firms in Canada. He has been successful in building these teams by prioritizing training, mentorship, and diversifying our employees’ experiences and skillsets — because of Jim’s leadership, Seaspan has been able to attract top engineering graduates and maintain some of the brightest ship design and engineering talent on our team.
A SNAME Fellow is a honorific designation accorded exclusively to SNAME Members whose outstanding personal contributions to naval architecture, marine or ocean engineering, or allied disciplines through significant achievements in design, research, production, operation, education, or associated management.