In a ceremony attended by federal and provincial dignitaries, Irving Shipbuilding marked the installation of the final piece of steel frame for the Assembly and Ultra Hall Production facility that will produce the Navy’s newest combat fleet starting in September 2015. “We’re extremely pleased with the progress on our facilities and are confident we’ll be ready to start building in September of next year,” said Kevin McCoy, President, Irving Shipbuilding. “We expect our buildings to be weather tight by the end of this year, when we’ll shift our focus to the interior and the incredible amount of work left to make them production-ready. The men and women of Irving Shipbuilding certainly can’t wait to get started.”
“The Government of Nova Scotia congratulates Irving Shipbuilding and the Government of Canada on this important milestone,” said Nova Scotia Environment Minister Andrew Younger. “Nova Scotia is proud to be known around the world for our shipbuilding abilities, and we are pleased to be a partner in making sure we maximize the benefits of this project for our economy and our communities now, and into the future.”
“We’d like to take the opportunity to thank the more than 3,000 direct and indirect employees across Canada estimated to be involved in NSPS-related work based on our commitments alone. They’re working on updating and modernizing our yard and facilities, they’re building us new systems and equipment, and they’re doing all the preparatory design, planning and procurement work to make the first set of ships go as smoothly as possible,” added McCoy. “It’s been said often that a defence program of this magnitude extends far beyond the shipyard itself. We have certainly seen evidence of that, even at these still early stages.”
Irving Shipbuilding, part of the J.D. Irving, Limited Group of companies, has its primary site in Halifax (Halifax Shipyard), with three other locations in the Maritime Provinces. The company was selected in 2011 as Canada’s Combatant Shipbuilder under the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS) and is in the early stages of a 30-year military shipbuilding program. It is currently working on a number of significant projects for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Coast Guard.