Port Weller Dry Docks News

Canada's Heddle Shipyards announced it has rebranded as Ontario Shipyards.The name change was made to "reflect the next phase of [the] company's growth and future success", it said in a statement, noting that the new name also embraces the province's shipbuilding legacy."The province of Ontario was once the epicenter of shipbuilding in Canada, with more than 80 commercial and government vessels built at the Port Weller Dry Docks and many more at the historic Thunder Bay Shipyard.

Heddle Shipyards said it has been awarded a $135.5 million dollar contract for the Vessel Life Extension (VLE) of the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) Terry Fox.The nearly three-year project will involve an extensive engineering, planning and procurement phase, with shipyard work scheduled to begin in December 2023. This multi-year project will create and sustain over 200 hundred jobs at the Port Weller Dry Docks through the summer of 2025 when the CCGS Terry Fox is scheduled for redelivery.

Heddle Shipyards said it has been awarded the vessel life extension of the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker CCGS Amundsen.This week, the CCGS Amundsen will arrive at the Port Weller Dry Docks in Canada, the St. Catharines, Ontario, where it will stay through June 2022. The eight-month refit valued at approximately $12,000,000 CAD will sustain over 100 direct jobs and support subcontractors and suppliers across the Niagara Region, Ontario, and Canada.Heddle Shipyards noted it has also secured the dry docking of a seaway max laker at its Port Weller facility…

The St. Lawrence Seaway experienced a rebound in activity over the course of the 2010 navigation season, with a 15% increase in cargo volume yielding an estimated total of 35.5 million tonnes. Shipments of iron ore posted a strong 35% gain over the level witnessed in 2009. Grain likewise showed improvement, posting a 10% increase year over year. Coupled with a 63% surge in general cargo, which consists principally of iron and steel break-bulk shipments and project cargo such as wind turbine components, the Seaway finished the year on a positive note. “With a recovery in the manufacturing sector, characterized by a resurgent domestic auto assembly business…

For the first time in the shipyard’s five-decade history, two ships were christened on the same day at Port Weller Dry Docks in St. Catharines. The vessels, Hull 79 and Hull 516, were renamed and welcomed at a ceremony at the yard on March 3. The third of three CSL vessels to have forebody replacements at Port Weller, Hull 79, which was sponsored by Kimberley Pauley, wife of Capt. Steve Pauley, is the last part of a $100 million contract with Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering. In addition to a completely new hull, which has been attached to the engine room portion of the former MV Louis R. Demarais, Hull 79 also boasts automated self-unloading equipment. Hull 79 also holds the distinction as one of the largest ships on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence waterway, at SeawayMax size.

The largest-ever Canadian ship built for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence was christened at Port Weller Dry Docks at the Lake Ontario entrance to the Welland Canal. CSL Niagara is the newest member of the Canada Steamship Lines fleet, and the first of three ships built by Port Weller as part of a $100 million fleet reinvestment program by CSL. Measuring 740 x 78 x 48 ft., Niagara required more than 6,000 tons of steel for construction. The unique shipbuilding project saw an entirely new hull constructed and joined to the engine room portion of J.W. McGiffin. Niagara is the first ship to be built to the St. Lawrence Seaway's new maximum-size allowances, and features the most up-to-date self-unloading system available, unloading cargo at rates up to 6,000 tons per hour.

The Canadian-flag bulker Algowood was expected to arrive under tow at Port Weller dry docks, Ontario, on July 15. Repairs to the 31,940 dwt bulker are estimated at $5 million and will include replacing 30 ft. of damaged hull with a new 40 ft section that will increase the vessel's overall length to 740 ft, the new maximum for the St. Lawrence seaway. Algowood sank in a dock at Bruce Mines while loading aggregate on June 2 and was refloated on July 8.

The Star has reported that Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd. (CSE) will seek government money, cut labour costs and restructure before resorting to a sales process if necessary, the monitor overseeing its bankruptcy protection said in court documents. CSE was formed 20 years ago by the merger of the shipbuilding and repair divisions of two of Canada's biggest private shipping companies, Canada Steamship Lines and what is now called Upper Lakes Group Inc. The CSL Group — owned by former Prime Minister Paul Martin until 2003 — sold its remaining interest in Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering in November. Upper Lakes Group Inc. now owns more than two-thirds of CSE, which had 420 employees when all its operations were running.

Canadian Shipbuilding and Engineering has won a $39.6 million order for three new ships that will keep the St. Catharines, Ont., shipyard running at full employment for the next two years, Buffalo News reported. The order, which resulted from an alliance with Dutch shipbuilder Peters Kampen Shipyards that was announced last September, is expected to keep Port Weller Dry Docks' employment at 250 through the end of next year. The ships were ordered by a British firm, Carisbrooke Shipping. (Source: Buffalo News)

M.V. CSL Niagara, which was delivered by Port Weller Dry Docks this past July, is the largest seaway capable vessel on the Great Lakes. The two self-unloader resulting was formulated by joining the aft end of M.V. J.W. McGiffin to a complete new forebody built and outfitted by PWDD. Beginning with the new forebody being floated out of the building dock, McGiffin was then docked and its old forebody was cut and floated off — the new forebody was re-docked and joined to McGiffin's stern shortly after. Taking advantage of new maximum seaway dimensions resulting in cargo lifts, the vessel was selected to celebrate strong links between Canada Steamship Lines and the Niagara Region.

What started out as mere sketches on the drafting tables at CSL almost two years ago now sits in the building berth at Port Weller Dry Docks well on its way to becoming the biggest Canadian Lakes vessel ever built. Apart from the construction of the various sections of the new hull (forebody), which incorporated some of the latest in shipbuilding techniques, and the development of state-of-the-art unloading systems, the task of joining it to the engine room compartment and accommodation block (after end) of former J.W. McGiffin was nothing short of an engineering feat. The delicate procedure took place in mid and late March. The transition section -- the 24-ft. unit which accounts for the extra two ft. in deck height and three ft.