Hamilton, Niagara-based Heddle Shipyards will make components for Seaspan
The 2 shipyards have also partnered on bid for Canadian Coast Guard's Polar Icebreaker
Ontario-based Heddle Shipyards has partnered with Vancouver-based shipyard Seaspan to make components for their ships, creating at least 50 new jobs and generating tens of millions of dollars in economic activity, says the provincial government.
Over the next decade, Heddle Shipyards will be the company's main supplier for ladders, gratings, and handrails for the Joint Support Ship (JSS) 1 — which is currently under construction — JSS 2, and an offshore oceanographic science vessel, according to a media release.
The parts will be manufactured at their facilities in Hamilton, St. Catharines, and Thunder Bay.
Premier Doug Ford made the announcement at a Thursday media briefing in Hamilton, alongside Flamborough-Glanbrook PC MPP Donna Skelly and Mayor Fred Eisenberger.
The partnership will "reinforce Hamilton's status as a critical transportation hub in the province," Ford said.
The agreement falls under the National Shipbuilding Strategy, where the federal government works with Canadian shipyards to restore the country's fleet.
Irving's Halifax Shipyard and Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards were designated to build the Navy and Coast Guard's vessels.
Skelly called it a "tremendous opportunity" for workers that would "help revitalize the shipbuilding industry in Ontario."
Seaspan and Heddle partnered in June to bid on the construction of the Canadian Coast Guard's next flagship, the Polar Icebreaker.
Ford said in the briefing that he had sent a message to the prime minister in support of the bid.
If won, Heddle will "support the construction through its modular fabrication program."
The federal government recently named Hamilton a Foreign Trade Zone in the effort to establish the city as a hub for international trade, joining Niagara. There are 14 foreign trade zones across the country.