North Vancouver’s Seaspan is starting construction on a new $4.8-million facility within its Pemberton Avenue shipyard.
The new Land-Based Test Site will allow the company to bring in-house their ability to test vital ship communications, navigation, and other electronic equipment prior to being installed on vessels, according to a release from the firm.
The building includes a dedicated antenna tower, which Seaspan engineers will use in the ongoing construction of a polar icebreaker and multi-purpose vessels that Seaspan is building for the Canadian Coast Guard under the national shipbuilding strategy. But the LBTS should still be of use long after those contracts are done, according to Seaspan.
“Seaspan is focused on driving improvements to our capabilities and building capacity and expertise as we build a long-term, sustainable shipbuilding industry,” chief program officer Martin Edwards said in a release.
