Seaspan ULC (formerly Seaspan Marine Corporation) provides marine-related services to the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
. Within the Group are three
shipyard
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...
s, an intermodal
ferry
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
and
car float
A railroad car float or rail barge is a specialised form of lighter with railway tracks mounted on its deck used to move rolling stock across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise go. An unpowered barge, it is towed by a tugb ...
business, and also a
tug
A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...
and
barge
Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...
transportation company that serves both domestic and international markets. Seaspan is part of the Washington Companies, owned by
Dennis Washington
Dennis R. Washington (born 1934) is an American billionaire industrialist who owns, or co-owns controlling interests in, a large consortium of privately held companies collectively known as the Washington Companies and, in Canada, another collec ...
. Seaspan is run by his son Kyle Washington, as Executive Chairman, who has become a Canadian citizen.
Seaspan ULC was formerly known as Seaspan Marine Corporation, and prior to that Washington Marine Group.
Marine transportation
Seaspan ULC
Seaspan ULC has evolved into a prominent marine transportation company serving the West Coast of North America with a large
tugboat
A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...
and
barge
Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...
fleet. Seaspan's barges haul forestry materials (logs,
wood chips
Woodchips are small- to medium-sized pieces of wood formed by cutting or chipping larger pieces of wood such as trees, branches, logging residues, stumps, roots, and wood waste.
Woodchips may be used as a biomass solid fuel and are raw material f ...
, hog fuel,
lumber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
,
pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material
* ...
,
paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...
and
newsprint
Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has an ...
), minerals (
construction aggregate
Construction aggregate, or simply aggregate, is a broad category of coarse- to medium-grained particulate material used in construction, including sand, gravel, crushed stone, slag, recycled concrete and geosynthetic aggregates. Aggregates ...
and
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
), railcars, plus machinery, fuel and supplies to coastal communities. Seaspan also provides ship docking services to the Ports of Vancouver, Victoria, Esquimalt and other BC out ports.
Seaspan Ferries Corporation
Seaspan Ferries Corporation is a commercial
roll on - roll off
Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or usi ...
ferry
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
service providing regularly scheduled transportation between British Columbia's Lower Mainland terminal in
Delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta")
* Delta Air Lines, US
* Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19
Delta may also re ...
and
Vancouver Island's Nanaimo
Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...
and
Swartz Bay
Swartz Bay, located on the north end of the Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island, is primarily known for being the location of one of BC Ferries' main terminals, the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal. Swartz Bay was named after John Aaron Swart, purchas ...
terminals.
Based in Delta, B.C., Seaspan Ferries Corporation transports
semi-trailer truck
A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semitruck, (or semi, eighteen-wheeler, big rig, tractor-trailer or, by synecdoche, a semitrailer) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer ...
s,
containers
A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping.
Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...
, and
rail cars on self-propelled
ferries
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...
and integrated
tug-barge units.
[ The train ferry is the link between the railways on the British Columbia mainland and the ]Southern Railway of Vancouver Island
The Island Rail Corridor, previously the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway (E&N Railway), is a railway operation on Vancouver Island and is the only remaining railway on Vancouver Island after the closure of the Englewood Railway in November 2017. T ...
at Nanaimo.
Ships
Ocean tugs
* ''Seaspan Royal''
* ''Seaspan Commodore''
* ''Seaspan King''
* ''Starpan marine''
Coastal tugs
* ''Seaspan Pacer''
* ''Seaspan Cavalier''
* ''Seaspan Corsair''
* ''Seaspan Cutlass''
* ''Seaspan Queen''
* ''Seaspan Commander''
* ''Seaspan Champion''
* ''Comox Crown''
* ''HaiSea Guardian''
* ''Seaspan Protector''
Ship assist & escort tugs
* ''Seaspan Foam''
* ''Cates #4''
* ''Ace''
* ''Seaspan Kestrel''
* ''Seaspan Osprey''
* ''Seaspan Resolution''
* ''Seaspan Eagle''
* ''Seaspan Raven''
* ''Seaspan Falcon''
* ''Seaspan Hawk''
* ''Cates #1''
* ''Cates #3''
* ''Cates #5''
* ''Cates #8''
* ''Cates #10''
* ''Cates #20''
River tugs
* ''Seaspan Tempest''
* ''Seaspan Venture''
* ''Seaspan Scout''
* ''JRW''
Ferries
* ''Seaspan Swift'': Seaspan's first of two new dual-fueled/hybrid (diesel, liquefied natural gas and battery) ferries.
* ''Seaspan Reliant'': the second of Seaspan's LNG-fueled vessel.
* ''Princess Superior'': Former BCCSS (British Columbia Coast Steamship Service) ferry from 1993 to 1998.
* ''Seaspan Challenger''/''Coastal Spirit'': Barge pusher tug (Challenger ex. Hecate Crown of Crown Zellerbach).
* ''Seaspan Greg'' (ex: ''Greg Yorke''): Former F M Yorke & Sons Ltd rail car barge from 1964 to 1972. Renamed to current name in 1974.
* ''Fraser Link'': Barge (ex. Cordova).
* ''Seaspan Pusher'': pushing tugboat pusher Fraser Link (ex. Sealink Pusher).
*''Van Isle Link'': Barge (ex. Fairbanks). Pushed by Amix tug Arctic Hooper.
Development in progress
* for Royal Canadian Navy
The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...
** HMCS ''Protecteur'' - construction commenced June 2018 with delivery 2022–2023
** HMCS ''Preserver'' - TBD with delivery expected in 2023–2024
Former vessels
* Pacificat-class ferries: Built by Catarman Ferries International in North Vancouver. Three ferries bought at auction by Seaspan in 2003 from BC Ferries. In 2009 the three ferries were sold to Abu 6 Mar, a luxury yacht builder. In the six years with Seaspan, the ferries were held in storage where they remained up for sale.
* ''Seaspan Doris'' (ex: ''Doris Yorke''): Former F M Yorke & Sons Limited ferry from 1968 to 1972. Built by Victoria Machinery Company of Victoria. Renamed to current name in 1974. As of 2012 the ferry was mothballed in North Vancouver.
Shipyards
Near to Pacific Northwest shipping lanes, Seaspan Shipyards are a resource for the region's important marine industry. The Group's operations consist of three shipyards.
Vancouver Drydock
Located on the north shore of Vancouver Harbour at the eastern end of the former Burrard Dry Dock
Burrard Dry Dock Ltd. was a Canadian shipbuilding company headquartered in North Vancouver (city), North Vancouver, British Columbia. Together with the neighbouring North Van Ship Repair yard and the Yarrow Shipbuilders#Yarrows in Canada, Yarrow ...
site, Vancouver Drydock operates two floating drydocks with lifting capacities of 36,000 tonnes in a Panamax beam dock, and 30,000 tonnes in a self-contained deployable dock.
Seaspan plans to extend the Vancouver Drydock a further into Burrard Inlet, and then add three more smaller dry docks to increase its ship repair capacity at this site, to allow for increased shipbuilding efforts at its other sites.
Vancouver Shipyards
Vancouver Shipyards designs, constructs, maintains, and repairs all types of vessels. The yard's facilities include a major steel forming shop, a large fabrication and assembly hall, a totally enclosed paint facility, and a SyncroLift capable of lifting vessels up to 1,200 tonnes.
Victoria Shipyards
Utilizing the Esquimalt Graving Dock, owned and operated by Public Services and Procurement Canada
Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC; french: Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada)''Public Services and Procurement Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Public Works ...
(formerly Public Works and Government Services Canada), Victoria Shipyards can drydock and repair vessels up to 100,000 DWT. Victoria Shipyards is the largest ship repair company on Canada's Pacific coast.
Other services
Marine Petrobulk
For over a quarter of a century, Marine Petrobulk has supplied all grades of bunker fuels to vessels entering the ports of Vancouver, New Westminster, Victoria, Prince Rupert, Kitimat and Nanaimo.
History
Note: There are many differences in dates between the Seaspan corporate history web page and other references; in such cases, the dates stated in the most reliable reference and on the Seaspan corporate history web page are both given.
Seaspan, as it is known today, is the product of a series of acquisitions and mergers in the coastal marine transportation and shipbuilding/ship repair business. Seaspan was created in 1970 by the merger of two prominent coastal towing firms: Vancouver Tug Boat Company (formed in 1898 by Harry A Jones) and Island Tug & Barge (formed in 1924 by Harold Elworthy). In addition to being the largest tug and barge operation on the lower coast, Vancouver Tug also owned Vancouver Shipyards. In 1968 or 1969, Vancouver Tug was acquired by the construction firm Dillingham Corporation
Dillingham Construction was an engineering and construction services company which was based in Hawaii then in Pleasanton, California. The company was founded in the 1880s as the Oahu Railway and Land Company to build a railroad across the swamps ...
, while Island Tug & Barge was acquired by Genstar Ltd. in 1969. The following year, Genstar joined with Dillingham to merge Island Tug and Vancouver Tug into a new corporation, Seaspan International Ltd. (In 1993 the name "Island Tug and Barge" was sold to the Shields family, of Shields Navigation, and the current Island Tug and Barge is not affiliated with Seaspan.)
Another prominent branch of the family tree was C H Cates & Sons Towing, generally known as Cates Towing, which was the primary shipdocking tug outfit in the Port of Vancouver for much of the 20th Century. Captain Charles Henry Cates arrived from Machias, Maine
Machias is a town in and the county seat of Washington County in Down East Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 2,060. It is home to the University of Maine at Machias and Machias Valley Airport, a small public ...
in 1885 and built the first cargo-handling wharf on the North Vancouver waterfront. He expanded into boatbuilding and repair and his tugs towed barges of building stone and assisted ships in Burrard Inlet
french: Baie Burrard
, image = Burrard Inlet 201807.jpg
, image_size = 250px
, alt =
, caption = Aerial view of Burrard Inlet
, image_bathymetry = Burrard-Inlet-map-en.svg
, alt_bathymetry ...
. In 1913 he formed C H Cates Towing, then joined with his three sons, all master mariners, to incorporate the company as CH Cates and Sons Limited in 1921.
Vancouver Shipyard was founded in 1902 at the foot of Denman Street in Vancouver's Coal Harbour
Coal Harbour is the name for a section of Burrard Inlet lying between Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula and the Brockton Point of Stanley Park. It has also now become the name of the neighbourhood adjacent to its southern shoreline.
Neighbourhoo ...
. Primarily a builder of small fishing and pleasure boats, the company built two minesweepers for the Royal Canadian Navy
The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...
during the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It was acquired by Vancouver Tug in 1954. In 1968 or 1969, both Vancouver Tug and Vancouver Shipyards were acquired by Dillingham Corporation
Dillingham Construction was an engineering and construction services company which was based in Hawaii then in Pleasanton, California. The company was founded in the 1880s as the Oahu Railway and Land Company to build a railroad across the swamps ...
and moved to their present site at the foot of Pemberton Avenue in North Vancouver, where a larger shipyard was established. Since that time the company has constructed, outfitted, or converted 192 tugs, barges and ferries at the shipyard.
Seaspan acquired many of the assets of the former Versatile Pacific Shipyards in two separate transactions. First, Seaspan and Allied Shipbuilders Allied Shipbuilders Ltd is a privately held shipbuilding and ship repairing company established in Canada in 1948.
Company profile
Founded in 1948 by Arthur McLaren (1919-1999), Allied Shipbuilders is one of the older continually operatin ...
formed a partnership and, with assistance from both Federal and Provincial governments, created Vancouver Drydock Company to acquire the floating drydocks and some onshore facilities in North Vancouver from the defunct firm. Seaspan later acquired Allied's interest in the company.
Meanwhile, in 1994 Vancouver Shipyards (Esquimalt) Ltd. (now Victoria Shipyards) was created at the Esquimalt Graving Dock to fill the void left when the Yarrows shipyard in Esquimalt
The Township of Esquimalt is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Juan de ...
went bankrupt. Since then, Victoria Shipyards has become prominent in refitting and repair of cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...
s and vessels of the Royal Canadian Navy
The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...
, including life-extension servicing of the five s based at CFB Esquimalt
Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt (CFB Esquimalt) is Canada's Pacific Coast naval base and home port to Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific Headquarters. , 4,411 military personnel and 2,762 civilians work at CFB Esquima ...
and the four ''Victoria''-class submarines. It built the fleet for the Royal Canadian Navy, constructed over two dozen search and rescue lifeboats for the Canadian Coast Guard
The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; french: links=no, Garde côtière canadienne, GCC) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in ...
, and assembled and launched the newest Seabus
The SeaBus is a passenger-only ferry service in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It crosses Burrard Inlet to connect the cities of Vancouver ( Waterfront station) and North Vancouver (Lonsdale Quay). Owned by TransLink and operated by ...
, the ''Burrard Pacific Breeze''.
Chronological history of Seaspan
( except where noted)
* 1970 - Seaspan International Ltd is created.
* 1972 - Seaspan acquires F.M. Yorke & Sons Ltd.
* 1973 - Genstar purchased Dillingham's interest and obtained full ownership of Seaspan.
* 1977 - Seaspan acquires Gulf of Georgia Towing.
* 1980 - Marine Petrobulk Ltd (50% owned by Seaspan) is created to provide fuelling services to vessels in the ports of Vancouver, New Westminster, Victoria, Nanaimo, Kitimat and Prince Rupert.
* 1986 - Imasco Ltd. acquires Genstar and gains controlling interest in Seaspan, then sells Seaspan to McLuan Capital Group later that year.
* 1992 - Dennis Washington makes his first investment in British Columbia's marine industry by purchasing C. H. Cates & Sons Towing and its subsidiary Seaforth Towing. This is when Washington Marine Group was first formed.
* 1995 - Washington acquires Norsk Towing from Fletcher Challenge.
* 1996 - Washington purchases Seaspan.
* 1997 - Washington purchases Kingcome Navigation from MacMillan Bloedel
MacMillan Bloedel Limited, sometimes referred to as "MacBlo", was a Canadian forestry company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was formed through the merger of three smaller forestry companies in 1951 and 1959. Those were the Po ...
. Kingcome's roots go back to 1912 when it was formed to tow logs from logging camps to the paper mill in Powell River, British Columbia
Powell River is a city on the northern Sunshine Coast of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Most of its population lives near the eastern shores of Malaspina Strait, which is part of the larger Georgia Strait between Vancouver Island and the ...
.
* 1998 - Washington purchases the rail and truck ferry service of Coastal Marine Operations from the Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
; it becomes a subsidiary of Seaspan and is renamed Seaspan Coastal Intermodal.
* 1999 - Seaspan, Cates, Seaforth, Norsk and Kingcome are all amalgamated into Seaspan International. Dennis Washington sets up Washington Marine Group with separate divisions for towing, shipbuilding and ship repair, coastal intermodal, and bunkering services.
* 2010 - Vancouver Shipyards is shortlisted for the Federal Government's National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy
The National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), formerly the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS), is a Government of Canada program operated by the Department of Public Works and Government Services. The NSS was developed under the Stephe ...
(NSPS). The program, worth CAD$35 billion, is planned to build replacement ships for the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Coast Guard over a 30-year period. Two Canadian shipyards will be selected, one to build combat vessels, the other non-combat vessels.
* 2011 - In a corporate restructuring, Washington Marine Group is renamed Seaspan Marine Corporation; the shipbuilding, coastal ferries and bunkering services become subsidiaries of the towing division.
* 2011 - As the winning bidder of the $8 billion non-combat package of a $35 billion federal shipbuilding contract on 19 October 2011, Seaspan Marine will build seven and possibly eight vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard and Department of National Defence. These will include scientific research vessels, fisheries vessels, polar icebreaker , and two or three support vessels for the Royal Canadian Navy
The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...
.
* 2012 – Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards commences the $170 million Shipyard Modernization Project in preparation for federal shipbuilding contracts under the NSS program.
* 2014 – Canada's largest permanent gantry crane
A gantry crane is a crane built atop a gantry, which is a structure used to straddle an object or workspace. They can range from enormous "full" gantry cranes, capable of lifting some of the heaviest loads in the world, to small shop cranes, us ...
arrives at Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards. The crane weighs in at 300 tonnes, stands high and spans .
* 2018 Victoria Shipyards along with Davie and Halifax Shipyards share a $7 billion contract to maintain and repair the s and will be responsible for the five frigates based at CFB Esquimalt
Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt (CFB Esquimalt) is Canada's Pacific Coast naval base and home port to Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific Headquarters. , 4,411 military personnel and 2,762 civilians work at CFB Esquima ...
.
References
External links
Seaspan ULC corporate site
S.E. Heal, ''Memories of Burrard Dry Dock Company,'' Mariner Life, 2007.
{{Canadian shipbuilders
Ferries of British Columbia
Shipping companies of Canada
Shipbuilding companies of Canada
Defence companies of Canada