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Canada’s Seaspan Turns to Turkish Shipyard for LNG-Fueled Ferries

Canada’s Seaspan Turns to Turkish Shipyard for LNG-Fueled Ferries

Mike Schuler
Total Views: 19
November 19, 2014

Photo credit: Seaspan

Seaspan Ferries Corporation, a unit of Vancouver-based Seaspan Marine Corporation, says it has awarded a contract to Sedef Shipyard of Istanbul, Turkey for the construction of two LNG-powered ferries.

The 148.9 meter ferries will be capable of carrying up to 59 trailers and will be equipped with dual-fuel engines capable of running on diesel and liquified natural gas.

“One of Seaspan’s Core Values is care for the environment and we are committed to ensuring the conservation of Canadian oceans and waterways,” said Steve Roth, Vice President of Seaspan Ferries Corporation. “These new, technologically advanced ferries will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions significantly compared to current alternatives while ensuring the highest level of efficiency, performance and reliability.”

SFC says the contract award to Sedef Shipyard follows an extensive and competitive procurement process that included more than 40 shipyards from around the world, as well as a thorough analysis of Seaspan Shipyard’s capacity to construct the vessels at its new facility at Vancouver Shipyards.

“Our decision to have a non-Seaspan shipyard build our new ferries was not made lightly, but it was a simple decision based on capacity,” said Jonathan Whitworth, CEO of Seaspan.

Commenting on the award, Orkun Kalkavan, Board Member of Sedef Shipyard, said: “We feel very honoured to be chosen as Seaspan’s shipbuilding partner and we will take great pride in building their new ferries. The technical side of the project is also a matter of pride due to the dual fuel-LNG hybrid particulars of the vessels, which we feel demonstrate our shipyard’s commitment to building sophisticated and environmentally friendly vessels. The entire shipyard is excited about this project and dedicated to building Seaspan’s ships on-time and on-budget.”

Both of the newbuilds are expected to begin operations by late 2016, with construction anticipated to start in early 2015. The ferries will service routes between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland.

Earlier this month, Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyard division completed a $170 million modernization project that will help the yard fulfill shipbuilding contracts for the Canadian government. Under Canada’s historic National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy, Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards was selected as the prime contractor in the construction of seven new Non-Combat ships for the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Coast Guard worth an estimated $8 billion.

“We are laser-focused on successfully delivering our multi-year, multi-billion dollar project to build vessels for the men and women of the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Coast Guard under the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS)” said Whitworth. “We have established a world-class shipbuilding and ship repair centre of excellence, and are working to returning B.C.’s shipbuilding industry to its once thriving roots, as evidenced by our recently completed state-of-the-art facility at Vancouver Shipyards. For the next five to seven years, our new vessel building capacity will be solely dedicated to the NSPS Non-Combat vessels.”

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