November 12, 2025
As the temperature starts to dip in British Columbia (and the rain clouds begin rolling out more frequently), let’s look back on what has been a whirlwind past few months at Seaspan Shipyards. The team at Vancouver Shipyards continues to make strong progress on the ships being designed and built in North Vancouver, and at Victoria Shipyards and Vancouver Drydock, there has been a non-stop flurry of repair and maintenance activity underway on a wide variety of vessels.
Vancouver Shipyards
Sometimes, it’s best to let the photos speak for themselves. These drone images of CCGS Naalak Nappaaluk were captured in September during the vessel’s second sea trials voyage. For its final testing prior to ship delivery, the Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel (OOSV) headed away from Vancouver Shipyards, past Bowen Island and sailed towards the deeper waters near the Sunshine Coast. After several weeks of testing, the ship is now ready for its mission with the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG), with preparations already underway for the vessel’s delivery ceremony.
And the work of building ships for Canada continues, with steady progress on block construction for the CCG’s new heavy polar icebreaker since we first cut steel in April.
Speaking of polar progress, there’s another polar icebreaker at Seaspan that is helping to break conversational ice almost daily at 2 Pemberton. The 150,000+ Lego brick version of the ship was unveiled last month at Vancouver Shipyards’ Pemberton Campus and measures 11 feet long. Modeled after the real thing, the model is an accurate Lego representation of what the ship will look like as progress continues in the yard.
Seaspan recently signed a number of agreements with Canadian companies for design and engineering work on the Polar program, including with Genoa Design, Algoma Steel & Stigterstaal Canada, Elomatic, Tri-Metal Fabricators and, last but not least, Ideal Welders, who will construct 30 of the ship’s blocks at their facility in Delta, BC.
Some of the most noticeable changes at Vancouver Shipyards can be seen on JSS2, the future HMCS Preserver. The ship’s hull has grown considerably over the course of 2025, with the ship now consolidated from the bow to the engine room along the main deck.
Other noticeable changes at the shipyard are to infrastructure, with the new outfitting pier reaching final completion following the erection of two new cranes.
On the Multi-Purpose Icebreaker (MPI) program, Seaspan was pleased to share that our Functional Design Review Meeting with Canada for the first flight of six MPIs was successfully completed. Our MPI design was also selected by the U.S Coast Guard for the majority of their new Arctic Security Cutters, illustrating the maturity of Seaspan’s design and engineering expertise.
Victoria Shipyards
On Vancouver Island, steady work continues at Victoria Shipyards on the Royal Canadian Navy’s HMCS Winnipeg, the latest frigate to be undergoing its Vessel-Life Extension following the delivery of HMCS Calgary earlier this year. Work also continues on HMCS Victoria under the Victoria-Class In-Service Support Contract (VISSC). Under VISSC, Seaspan has been providing maintenance, repair and sustainment support for the RCN’s current fleet of submarines for more than 15 years. Through this work, Seaspan has built a large, highly skilled and experienced Canadian submarine workforce and a dedicated Canadian supply chain for servicing and outfitting naval submarines. We welcomed the announcement from the Government of Canada that they have selected TKMS and Hanwha as the two qualified suppliers for the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP). Seaspan has been proactively working with potential CPSP submarine builders and the Government of Canada on a plan for leveraging the extensive, established experience and capabilities to ensure a smooth transition between the existing and the new class of submarines upon their arrival in Canada. We look forward to working with the successful bidder and the RCN to support Canada’s future submarine fleet for decades to come.
Additional exciting updates from Victoria Shipyards are happening in-land as well, with the official opening of the shipyard’s new 40,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility at Ark Road near Shawinigan Lake. Thanks to this new facility, Seaspan’s team in Victoria has the space needed to focus on producing pipe spools and other items to be installed on the new polar icebreaker being constructed in North Vancouver.
While we did not have any major cruise projects at Victoria Shipyards in 2025, planning and discussions are underway with a number of cruise operators for visits to the shipyard in 2026.
Vancouver Drydock
Back on the North Shore, the Vancouver Drydock team was hard at work as usual, with a busy pace to start off the summer of repair and overhaul projects.
August saw the arrival of some familiar visitors, with several barges including Alaska Marine Lines’ Fairbanks Provider. The vessel was docked in the Careen Aug. 24 to Sept. 20 where it received some major TLC including prep and paint work on the hull and steel repairs on the aft port rake.
With fall underway, the Commencement Bay barge owned by Sause Bros took the place of the Fairbanks Provider on Sept. 24, stopping by for a quick prep and paint project before departing from the Careen on Oct. 6.
Other notable projects completed at the Drydock this quarter included maintenance on the familiar Burrard Otter Seabus, which was docked for two weeks in early October, as well as a visit from the second cable layer of the year: the 139-metre long Resolute. It was drydocked Aug. 17 to Sept. 2 and hosts equipment including an ROV and a plow onboard that drags along the seabed to create trenches for undersea cables.
Finally, visitors to the Shipyards District area may have spotted the familiar red and white colours of CCGS John P. Tully, which arrived Sept. 30. The research vessel is currently alongside the drydock and will be undergoing a six-month long vessel life extension (VLE) project.