(NORTH VANCOUVER, British Columbia) — On Sept. 16, BC Ferries publicly announced the release of a request for proposal for its New Major Vessel (NMV) program. Seaspan has assessed the competition for the BC Ferries NMV program and concluded that it does not support the opportunity for the BC maritime sector to make a meaningful contribution to building these vessels – and thereby create high-value jobs and economic benefits for British Columbians.
As BC Ferries has outlined in its news release, cost is a primary issue and therefore, no bidder will be incentivized to include significant Canadian/BC domestic content in their bids.
Canadian shipyards and their supply chains cannot compete with low-wage countries that have lower employment standards, lower environmental standards and lower safety standards than Canada and BC. The most significant difference is that in BC, the wages that are paid to the skilled trades workforce are substantially higher than in these other countries.
Seaspan has commissioned independent economic studies that show substantial return on investment for the BC government to support building the NMVs in BC. Today, Seaspan is already building large vessels (the same size as NMV) in BC – the capability is already here. Unlike bridge, dam and hospital projects which have fixed duration, the BC shipbuilding industry will provide 20-plus-year jobs to its workers and associated income tax revenues and other economic benefits to the province.
Other provinces in Canada (particularly Quebec) are supporting their shipyards aggressively by requiring domestic build and providing tax credits, forgivable loans and grants well in excess of $1 billion to their shipyards. This contributes to a significant competitive disadvantage for BC shipyards and workers.
Seaspan will continue to make the case to the BC government to strategically build ferries in BC. Seaspan acknowledges the need for BC Ferries to get some of these replacement vessels very fast given their aging fleet. However, with the flexible contracting approach that BC Ferries uses, Seaspan is hopeful that the BC government will work to build some of the seven vessels, particularly the last two, in BC.
– Seaspan
