The Ruby Princess is in drydock in Esquimalt for a 10-day stop while 350 Victoria Shipyards workers go flat out to complete a vessel refit.
Cruise-ship work and other contracts are pushing the size of the workforce to a peak of more than 800, said Joe O’Rourke, general manager of Victoria Shipyards, owned by North Vancouver’s Seaspan ULC.
The value of the cruise ship job alone is in the $4-million to $5-million range, O’Rourke said Friday. It includes installing two massive emission scrubbers and replacing bow thrusters.
Princess has brought in 350 of its own staff, who in their spare time head downtown and spend money.
Standing by his office window over the busy scene, O’Rourke points to the HMCS Regina, the final of five frigates in the yard for a modernization project. The Regina contract is scheduled to be complete this spring.
At the same time, the Esquimalt Graving Dock is going through major changes. Plans to replace the south jetty have cut 1,000 feet of pier space, leaving just 800 feet for Victoria Shipyards and other companies that rent the facility. Utility upgrading work is also underway.
Victoria Shipyards workers are on 10- to 12-hour shifts to get the cruise ship finished on time, creating a “rather intense” atmosphere, O’Rourke said.
No one is complaining.
Just six years ago, the number of workers dropped to seven. Lack of contracts kept most of the 200 core trades workers at home. Shipyards along the coast spent decades fighting for survival and some didn’t make it.
Today’s healthy employment numbers are largely due to Victoria Shipyards winning federal contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The frigate work, at more than $350 million, has not only boosted the number of workers, but has brought in apprentices, sparked training and put it on the map internationally.
Submarine HMCS Corner Brook moved into the yard in June, kicking off a three-year upgrading project.
Victoria Shipyards has also successfully courted the lucrative cruise-ship industry. The Crown Princess was here for a refit in May. Next to arrive for refits will be Celebrity Cruises’ Millennium at the end of April or early May, followed by the Crystal Serenity in May. There is one cruise ship booking for 2017 and Victoria Shipyards is pursuing more.
Next year will be busy as the company is pursuing commercial contracts, O’Rourke said. He expects up to see up to 800 people working, with 150 in offices and 650 trades, in the initial six months of 2016. After that, trades numbers should decrease to 500 core trade workers unless other work comes in. “These are good-paying, blue-collar jobs,” O’Rourke said.
“We are proud of the fact we have created a great team from top to bottom capable of competing with any other shipyard for vessels repair and modernization.”
Plans to bring two New Zealand frigates to Victoria Shipyards are on track, although a contract has not yet been signed. The first will likely arrive in late 2016 or early 2017, said O’Rourke, who recently returned from New Zealand. Each vessel is expected is create six months of work for about 100 tradespeople. Lockheed Martin Canada is the prime contractor for the vessels.
The first federal science vessels being built by Seaspan in North Vancouver is expected to be in Victoria later in 2016. In coming years, $11.3 billion worth of non-combat vessels are slated to be constructed in North Vancouver, all heading to Victoria Shipyards for trials and testing.
