Canada's BC Ferries urged to incentivise use of local content in new vessels

On September 16, 2024, Canadian transport company BC Ferries publicly announced the release of a request for proposal for their New Major Vessel (NMV) program.

Local shipping line Seaspan said it has assessed the competition for the BC Ferries NMV program and that the company's conclusion is that the program "does not support the opportunity for the BC maritime sector to make a meaningful contribution to building these vessels – and thereby create high-value jobs and economic benefits for British Columbians."

As BC Ferries has outlined in its press release, cost is a primary issue and therefore, no bidder will be incentivised to include significant Canadian/BC domestic content in their bids.

Seaspan said that Canadian shipyards and their supply chains "cannot compete with low wage countries that have lower employment standards, lower environmental standards and lower safety standards than Canada and BC."

The company added that the most significant difference is that in BC, the wages paid to the skilled trades workforce are substantially higher than in those other countries.

Seaspan added that it has commissioned independent economic studies that show substantial return on investment for the BC government to support building the NMVs in BC. The company itself is also already building large vessels (the same size as NMV) in BC, indicating that the capability is already available locally.

"We acknowledge the need for BC Ferries to get some of these replacement vessels very fast given their aging fleet," said Seaspan. "However, with the flexible contracting approach that BC Ferries uses, we are hopeful that the BC government will work with our BC industry team to build some of the seven vessels, particularly the last two, in BC."