Stantec, a global leader in sustainable design and engineering, and Seaspan, a leader in Canada’s shipbuilding industry, are celebrating the completion of a new outfitting pier at Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards. The new outfitting pier measures 272 metres by 19 metres (892 feet by 63 feet) and is designed for large navy and coast guard vessels. The pier is currently facilitating outfitting of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) Joint Support Ship, HMCS Protecteur, the largest vessel in the fleet. Stantec provided planning, preliminary engineering, detailed design and construction services on the Seaspan facility, which is supporting Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS).
The steel and concrete pier is designed with modern utilities, heavy load capacity, and environmental safeguards, replacing a timber pier from 1966. The pier is engineered to support the demands of heavy outfitting operations and is resilient to future sea level rise considerations, extreme storm surge events, and seismic hazards in one of Canada’s highest seismic zones.
“The new outfitting pier at Seaspan Vancouver Shipyards reflects our continued investment in the future and longevity of shipbuilding in British Columbia,” said Julianne Nezgoda, Director – Facilities, Seaspan Shipyards. “With the new pier already in use, Seaspan continues to show it has the facilities and infrastructure to design, build and deliver ships effectively and efficiently on Canada’s West Coast, ensuring the RCN and Coast Guard have the ships they need to protect Canada’s security and sovereignty.”
“This is a major milestone for shipbuilding in Western Canada, and for Vancouver Shipyards,” said Kip Skabar, Canada Ports and Marine sector leader at Stantec. “We are seeing increased waterfront infrastructure needs on the east, west, and north coasts of Canada, and as one of the few full-service waterfront engineering firms in the nation, we are well positioned to support this growth. It’s an exciting time to be designing significant new facilities that will contribute to our national interest.”
To support key ship outfitting and maintenance operations, the pier is designed to accommodate integrated tower cranes, civil utilities/drainage, vehicle traffic, service towers, and specialized shipyard equipment with high live and dynamic loads. To address potential future needs, the pier also includes crane pockets that can be configured in different ways to support outfitting and production, as well as different shore power capabilities, to support different ship requirements.
Contributing to Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy
Seaspan was selected as the non-combat shipbuilder for the Government of Canada under the NSS in 2011. The NSS is the federal government’s long-term plan to renew RCN and Coast Guard fleets.
The outfitting pier project commenced in 2020 with the environmental review permitting process, with construction starting in 2023. Stantec delivered detailed multidisciplinary design, while supporting planning, permitting, procurement, and construction through the project lifecycle.
Building up Canada’s shipbuilding in the Pacific
Shipbuilding and port infrastructure is seeing significant growth on Canada’s west coast. There have been approximately $10.25 billion in contracts awarded to Pacific-area companies under the NSS.
Seaspan is one of the most modern shipyards in North America, following its shipyard modernization, development of a skilled workforce and state-of-the-art, purpose-built infrastructure to deliver large, complex vessels. So far under the NSS, Seaspan has built and launched five ships, and is currently building the Canadian Coast Guard’s new heavy polar icebreaker, the largest and most capable vessel in their fleet.
Under the NSS, Seaspan has become a major economic and job creation engine. According to an economic analysis conducted by Deloitte, Seaspan has contributed more than $5.7 billion to Canada’s GDP since 2012, while also creating or sustaining more than 7,000 jobs annually.
Expanding port infrastructure in Canada
Canada is expanding its ports to boost trade capacity and efficiency, with upgraded facilities designed to handle a wide range of commodities, diversify trade, support strong economic growth, and protect Canadian sovereignty. Stantec has completed more than 100 projects for Canadian port and marine facilities in the past five years, including planning, engineering, permitting, environmental science, and geotechnical engineering.
The firm has delivered or is in progress of delivering multiple large-scale projects including Robert Banks Terminal 2 at the Port of Vancouver, LNG Canada in Kitimat, and the B Jetty Replacement at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt.