Who We Are

The Welding Centre of Excellence (COE) lab is a welding and materials testing laboratory located at Vancouver Shipyards in North Vancouver. As a CSA- certified and ISO- accredited facility, the COE lab provides critical support for welding procedure qualification and material verification testing. Since early 2023, it has contributed to key initiatives under the National Shipbuilding Strategy, including procedure qualifications for the Polar Icebreaker project.

Our expert team is committed to delivering timely, accurate and traceable results and is uniquely positioned to support a wide range of industries, from oil & gas, manufacturing, shipbuilding, and more.

Wide shot of Seaspan's Welding Centre of Excellence Lab, featuring lab equipment.
Technician sitting in front of microscope and steel samples on a lab table.

What Sets Us Apart

  • Experience you can rely on. Our knowledgeable and trustworthy team has a strong metallurgy background and is dedicated to delivering timely and accurate results.
  • Commitment to problem-solving. We provide customer insights through failure analysis and help identify preventable issues.
  • Reliable results, every time. Our traceable process ensures transparent information about how results were achieved, and project data is available to customers upon request.
Two lab technicians preparing to perform a charpy impact test on a piece of steel at a low temperature.

Trusted by Industry Leaders

The COE Lab is equipped and ready to support customers across a wide range of industries, including: 

Our Services

  • Tensile testing (strength and elongation of metals) The Tinius Olsen 600 SL equipped with Horizon software is capable of tensile testing different metals.
  • Charpy testing (ductility of metals, performed at various temperatures) The Tinius Olsen IT 406 together with a CharpyCool freezer can test Charpy samples down to -80° C.
  • Bend test for weld soundness.
  • Fracture testing.
  • Hardness testing of different materials with Rockwell and Vickers scales.
  • Spark analysis which uses Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES) to provide accurate chemical analysis of present elements.
  • SPECTROPORT Metal Analyzer has advanced software capable of chemical analysis of steels and Ni-alloys.
  • Welding engineering services. 
  • Failure analysis to get to the root cause of problems and find insights to help solve or prevent them.
  • Weld Procedure Qualification Testing: CSA, ASME, ASTM, LR, AWS, DNV
  • Microstructure examination
  • Macro evaluation for weld procedure qualification 
  • Non-destructive testing: Visual (VT), Magnetic Particle (MT), Liquid Penetrant (PT), Ultrasonic (UT)

LET’S GET STARTED 

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Seaspan's Recent COE Lab Highlights

Seaspan’s Welding Centre of Excellence Lab Obtains ISO Accreditation

Wide shot of Seaspan's Welding Centre of Excellence Lab, featuring lab equipment.

Preparing for Polar: A look into the lab at Seaspan’s Welding Centre for Excellence