Seaspan to Build for Canada Gov Heavy Polar Icebreaker

^{Photo credit: Seaspan Shipyards}

North Vancouver-based Seaspan Shipyards (Seaspan) has secured a contract to build one of the Canadian Coast Guard’s (CCG) new heavy polar icebreakers. The government of Canada reported the value of the contract at $3.15-bn contract (before tax) to Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards for the construction of one of CCG’s future polar icebreakers under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS).

With the contract now in place, Seaspan reports it is ready to cut steel on this ship and begin full-rate construction.

The polar icebreaker will be built entirely in Canada at Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards, located in North Vancouver, British Columbia, supporting more than 1,000 local shipbuilders and a broad Canadian supply chain of over 800 Canadian companies.

As disclosed, it will be one of only a handful of Polar Class 2 ships in operation and will allow for the CCG to operate self-sufficiently year-round in the high-Arctic, down to temperatures at -50°C.

Designed with advanced capabilities, the new polar icebreaker will be the seventh vessel designed and built by Seaspan under the NSS.

It will also be