By Mark Cardwell
“It’s hard to know what to think,” Peter Cairns, President of the Shipbuilding Association of Canada, said when asked for his thoughts on the latest purchase of the Davie yard. “The track record of previous owners hasn’t been so good.”
However, he feels the new owners are different in that that are providing their own financing and have a focussed business plan to produce ships for their own needs in the offshore oil and gas market.
“They’re not looking for handouts from government, which is a welcome change,” said Cairns. He also noted that the new owners said they intend to build the two ferries the Quebec government ordered last year (in an effort to help the yard’s then-owners bid on NSPS), and take on other work that comes their way.
“That suggests they will likely go after contracts for other federal vessels that are coming down the pipe,” said Cairns.