Seaspan celebrates one year of progress on the heavy polar icebreaker
Press Release
May 26, 2026 — North Vancouver, B.C. — It has been one year since the first cut of steel on the heavy polar icebreaker being built at Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards.
Today, one of Canada’s most complex and capable heavy icebreakers, with year round Arctic access and a full displacement of 26,000 tonnes, is taking shape in North Vancouver, one weld at a time.
In the twelve months since, Seaspan’s Canadian workforce has made significant progress on the built-in-Canada vessel, with block manufacturing and production advancing steadily and to schedule at Vancouver Shipyards in North Vancouver, and significant manufacturing work taking place at Victoria Shipyards and Seaspan’s Ark Road facility on Vancouver Island.
Representing a significant milestone and the start of ship construction, the first Polar grand block at Vancouver Shipyards is now structurally consolidated.
The 330-tonne grand block is comprised of the centreline propulsion motor room, fuel tanks and void spaces. Assembly and outfitting work on the grand block is already ahead of schedule.
The propulsion motor foundations on the first grand block are made of 50 mm thick steel — the first instance of thicker steel plate being used on the ship. This thick steel will help enable the heavy icebreaker to operate self-sufficiently year-round in the highArctic, down to -50°C temperatures.
Once complete, the vessel will serve as one of the world’s most powerful conventional icebreakers, ready to protect Canada’s Arctic sovereignty.
Across the shipyard, more than 49 blocks are now under construction, each a testament to Seaspan’s highly skilled workforce that highlights the depth of Seaspan’s shipbuilding expertise.
The workforce in the panel assembly shop is also driving advanced progress, completing pre-outfitting work early in the build schedule, with pipes and small foundations being installed directly off the panel line, allowing our workforce to conduct quality testing and installation while the area is still easily accessible. In the paint shop, the first underwater hull block has been coated with a specialized abrasion-resistant hull coating for icebreakers.
Out in the shipyard, the largest and heaviest polar block, currently weighing 230 tonnes, has already been lifted into place onto a support cradle (where it will remain until delivery) using Seaspan’s 300-tonne gantry crane. When complete, the large block will weigh up to 465 tonnes.
This impressive block is currently back in the block assembly shop, where our team will be welding up to 60 mm thick steel designed to withstand Arctic ice, building on new techniques, including new robotic welding technology, and on experience gained working on other Polar Class vessels, as well as on the structural polar prototype block that the team completed ahead of cutting steel.
As we mark one year of progress on the polar icebreaker, the full scale and complexity of what the team is building at Vancouver Shipyards comes into sharper focus. This is one of the most advanced polar icebreakers ever built: a densely outfitted, multimission vessel designed to operate independently year-round in the high Arctic.
This progress would not be possible without the depth of our Canadian supply chain. More than 55 companies, from Delta to Mt. Pearl are contributing to this program. Alongside this ship, Seaspan is building Canadian jobs, Canadian expertise and Canadian capability.
The new polar icebreaker will be the seventh vessel designed and built by Seaspan under the National Shipbuilding Strategy, the fifth Polar Class vessel to be built for the Canadian Coast Guard, and one of up to 21 ice-capable vessels that Seaspan is constructing in Canada, for Canada.
QUOTES
John McCarthy, CEO Seaspan Shipyards
"A year ago, Vancouver Shipyards marked the first cut of steel. Today we have built up a highly skilled Canadian workforce with the skillset needed to weld steel thick enough to go through Arctic ice. Today the first grand block is structurally consolidated. Over 49 blocks are underway, and Seaspan is building our nation’s future and building up our Arctic sovereignty alongside the future flagship of the Canadian Coast Guard.”
Kevin Brosseau, Senior Associate Deputy Minister of National Defence, Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard, and Canada’s Fentanyl Czar
“On behalf of the Canadian Coast Guard, I congratulate Seaspan Vancouver Shipyards on one year of progress in building Canada’s future heavy polar icebreaker. This milestone reflects the strength of Canadian expertise and partnership and brings us closer to a vessel that will support year-round Arctic operations and Canada’s sovereignty for decades to come.”