New 25-tonne crane installed as the shipyard prepares to cut steel on September 1.

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Installation of a new 25-tonne crane has begun in the new assembly building – the “Ultra Hall” - at Halifax Shipyard.  The new crane has a span of 56 meters, is faster, and capable of lifting smaller pieces.   It arrived at the Port of Halifax’s Richmond Terminal on Tuesday, March 10, and was delivered to the shipyard by Mills Heavy hauling of Halifax.  Installation of the new crane is expected to take approximately three weeks.

This new crane is part of Irving Shipbuilding’s $340 million modernization as it gets ready to cut steel on Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships for Canada on September 1, 2015.

A mega block is a module, or a pre-built section of the ship's construction.  “The Ultra Hall is where the mega blocks are assembled for the new Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships and later the Canadian Surface Combatant vessels,” says Doug Dean, Facility Modernization Project Director at Irving Shipbuilding.  “Each mega block can weigh up to 400 tonnes.” 

Irving Shipbuilding has committed more than $370M in Canada to date in contracts, procurement, goods, and services related to the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS), including both the Halifax Shipyard Modernization program and the work on the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) Definition Contract.  More than 1,000 AOPS program jobs are estimated to be sustained at the shipyard at the peak of production, bringing total employment at Irving Shipbuilding to approximately 1,600 during this phase of the program.  In building Canada’s newest naval combatants, Irving Shipbuilding is committed to maximizing benefits to Canadian suppliers while ensuring best value to Canada.

For more information visit Irving Shipbuilding’s website.