Shipbuilding

Seaspan Marks Rapid Progress on Canadian Polar Icebreaker Amid Arctic Shipbuilding Push

Canada's Seaspan Shipyards completed the first major construction block for the Canadian Coast Guard's new heavy polar icebreaker, with more than 49 blocks now under construction for the 158-meter vessel. The first "grand block," weighing 330 tonnes and containing propulsion motor room sections, fuel tanks and void spaces, has been structurally consolidated one year after steel was first cut. The 26,000-tonne Polar Class 2 vessel will become the flagship of the Canadian Coast Guard's icebreaking fleet and one of the most powerful conventional icebreakers in the world.