Irving Shipbuilding announced several contract awards as part of part of the Halifax Shipyard Modernization Program, a two-year engineering and construction investment to prepare the company’s facilities to build Canada’s future combatant ships. Site preparation and preliminary construction is well underway, with major demolition and construction to begin soon.
“Irving Shipbuilding will invest approximately $300 million in the Halifax Shipyard Modernization Program, which is designed to ensure our facilities are ready to undertake production of the AOPS vessels scheduled to start in 2015, as well as the larger combatant ship contract currently scheduled to begin production between 2020 and 2022.” said Jim Irving, Co-CEO, J.D. Irving, Limited. “The selection of suppliers for our Modernization Program is the result of a rigorous procurement process where we assess quality, reliability, experience and cost to select the company that will help us deliver the best value to Canada.”
To date, Irving Shipbuilding has awarded $127.7 million in contracts associated with the Halifax Shipyard Modernization Program, creating approximately 733 full-time-equivalent (FTE) positions directly within its selected suppliers and indirectly within those suppliers’ subcontractors and approximately $58 million in annual employment income over the two-year program period across. Of the contracts let to date, 53 per cent of the total contract value has been awarded to companies owned or operating in Nova Scotia, generating approximately 370 full-time-equivalent (FTE) positions directly within the company’s selected Nova Scotia suppliers and indirectly within those suppliers’ subcontractors, as well as $26 million worth of employment income within the province over the two-year period.
Upon completion, the modernization project will result in one of the most modern shipyards in North America. The yard designs have been reviewed and benchmarked against international best practices by independent third party First Marine International, to ensure the updated facilities meet the target state measures established in the NSPS procurement process.