Seaspan's drydock expansion next to Lonsdale's Shipyards approved

Seaspan's drydock expansion next to Lonsdale's Shipyards district approved by port authority

Artistic rendering of the future expansion of the Vancouver Dry Dock. (Seaspan)

The Lonsdale waterfront of the City of North Vancouver will see more industrial uses from the re-expansion of the area’s shipyard facilities.

Last week, Vancouver Fraser Port Authority announced its decision to approve Seaspan’s plan to expand its drydock facilities westward — towards The Shipyards retail district and the publicly accessible Burrard Dry Dock Pier.

This entails the expansion of the water lot and the installation of a floating work pontoon and two additional dry docks on the west side of the existing deep-water outfitting pier. The project is being built within federal lands and waters managed by the port authority.

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Over the past two years, since the proposal was first made public, the project has seen some public opposition from the area’s residents living in recently built condominium buildings.

Existing condition:

Existing condition of the Vancouver Dry Dock. (Seaspan)

Future condition:

Artistic rendering of the future expansion of the Vancouver Dry Dock. (Seaspan)

In exchange for the approval, Seaspan is required to meet 61 conditions relating to mitigating environmental and community impacts, including specific measures to address noise and lighting such as lower the height of light poles, and the installation of a permanent noise monitoring station on the north side of the drydocks.

“Seaspan held multiple opportunities for community engagement during the permit review process, with public input used to develop meaningful mitigation measures to reduce potential noise and light impacts. The permit applicant has also agreed to retrofit its existing operations to meet the new higher standards set out in the project permit,” reads the port authority’s decision.

Proposed water lot lease expansion for the expansion of Vancouver Dry Dock. (Seaspan)

MS Regatta (left) and Grand Classica (right) at Seaspan’s North Vancouver shipyards. (Kevin Reimer / Instagram)

The new large additional drydock will be about 100 metres in length, 30 metres in width, and 10 metres in depth, while the smaller drydock will be about 55 metres in length, 22 metres in width, and eight metres in depth.

The new 100-metre long drydock will be able to accommodate a vessel with a length of up to 95 metres, a beam of up to 26 metres, and a weight of up to 4,500 tonnes, while the new 55-metre long drydock will able to handle a vessel with a length of up to 50 metres, a beam of up to 18 metres, and a weight of up to 1,200 tonnes.

This will consolidate and significantly expand Seaspan’s ship repair business operations, which currently frequently turn away potential contracts due to limited facilities. The existing drydock facilities are used to repair a range of vessel types, including BC Ferries ships, smaller cruise ships, large yachts, and cargo ships.

Existing condition:

Existing condition of the Vancouver Dry Dock. (Seaspan)

Future condition:

Artistic rendering of the future expansion of the Vancouver Dry Dock. (Seaspan)

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