Davie To Transform Levis Shipyard Into North America’s Biggest & Most Versatile Shipbuilding Centre

Chantier Davie Canada Inc. (Davie Shipbuilding) aims to transform its Levis shipyard in Quebec into North America’s biggest and most versatile shipbuilding centre. To achieve this goal, it has signed agreements with Pearlson & Pearlson Inc. and Construction Dinamo Inc. (Dinamo).

The funds for this project, CAD $ 519 million are provided by the government of Quebec as part of the CAD $840 million expansion budget.

According to Davie, the modernisation of the facility is vital for the delivery of 7 heavy icebreakers and 2 hybrid ferries under Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy.

The redevelopment will focus on constructing 6 new buildings, modernising 5 existing structures, upgrades to the waterfront, a new assembly hall and launch pad construction. It will also receive new plant equipment, machinery and overhead travelling cranes for the construction of ship modules.

Pearlson is based in Florida and is known for its experience in designing shipyards and program management. It has handled projects for many of the world’s biggest shipbuilding and ship repair companies including Austal USA, Fincantieri Marine Group and BAE Systems.

James Davies, President and CEO of Davie said that collaborating with Pearlson will ensure that their facility can build the most advanced icebreakers in Canadian history.

The partnership with Dinamo addresses the delivery of construction and supervision services for key-sub projects. Davies added that Dinamo’s experience in construction will help them realise their vision for the future of shipbuilding in Canada.

The modernisation project aligns with the ICE Pact between Canada, the U.S. and Finland and will lead to the generation of hundreds of jobs during construction and also expand Davie’s workforce to 1800 direct employees once completed.

Davie has been operating since 1825 and has constructed more than 720 specialised vessels and many icebreakers. The company holds the largest order book in the world of heavy icebreakers for Canada and owns Finland’s Helsinki shipyard, which has constructed over half of the world’s icebreaker fleet.

Davie was announced as the 3rd partner to Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy in April 2023, along with Nova Scotia’s Irving Shipbuilding Inc. and Vancouver’s Seaspan Shipyards.

The NSS is a program that aims to modernise Canada’s naval and coast guard fleets while boosting the domestic shipbuilding sector. It focuses on two categories of ships: non-combatants like icebreakers, offshore science ships and support vessels and combatant ships including frigates and Arctic offshore patrol ships.

References: Davie

Source: Maritime Shipping News