Atlantic Towing, Deep Panuke Project

Atlantic Towing is the successful bidder for EnCana Corporation’s offshore supply vessel services contract for the Deep Panuke Project. This award includes building a new state-of-the-art offshore supply vessel at the Halifax Shipyard.

The building and commissioning of the new vessel will employ over 200 shipyard workers at the peak and provide 426,000 person hours of employment.  The new contract will raise total employment levels at the shipyard to over 600 at peak.  The building of the new ship will generate an estimated payroll of $20m and will result in about $14m in purchases of goods and services from approximately 50 Nova Scotia suppliers.

Atlantic Towing will operate the new vessel on long term contract with EnCana.  In serving the Deep Panuke platform the vessel will provide over 50,000 man hours of work per year for Atlantic Towing, employing 25 crew members and staff in Nova Scotia.

"It's great to have companies with the capacity to do this kind of work here in Nova Scotia, and workers who are able to build such high quality vessels," said Premier Rodney MacDonald.  "Work like this, being done right here at home, is another example of how the people of our province are seeing the benefits of our offshore."

“This is great news for the men and women of the Halifax Shipyard who have worked hard to build a solid reputation in the construction of offshore supply ships,” said Jim Irving, President of J.D. Irving, Limited.  “This will be the fifth offshore supply vessel built at the Halifax Shipyard and these vessels have served around the globe, earning the praise of customers around the world – including the North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean ,as well as the praise of customers right here at home in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.”

Engineering and design work will begin immediately and the cutting of the first steel is forecasted for the third quarter of this year.  Delivery of the vessel will occur in the fourth quarter of 2010.