Halifax Shipyard recently completed the assembly of the midsection (Mega Block 2) of one of the Canadian Navy's future ships. Irving Equipment (IEQ) was contracted to transport the major sections of the Royal Canadian Navy’s first Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) from the Assembly Hall to dockside for future outfitting on the Halifax waterfront.

“Irving Equipment was able to invest in 36 new axle lines of transporters and use this project as a real business case to pursue other specialized transport projects with this new equipment. Currently we have two operators here from Irving Equipment on a training regime with Fagioli, global heavy lift and transport specialists." Ryan Long, Manager, Irving Equipment Saint John Branch explains. "Moving forward on the future AOPS ships Irving Equipment will comprise half the crew. Fagioli was the lead contractor hired to carry out the transport and Irving Equipment was fortunate to form a partnership with them in this region. This is a great chance to invest in our SPMT (Self Propelled Modular Transporters) fleet, quadrupling its size and giving us the opportunity to develop our business and create opportunities for operators to train and work in new areas. This year is a training year for our employees. They’ll be working alongside Fagioli to gain expertise operating large SPMT configurations.” said Ryan Long.

Using 124 axle lines of Self Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMT), and 4 Power Pack Units (PPU), Irving Equipment and Fagioli transported the 3,089 Metric Tonnes (MT) midsection the day before 4,000+ people came to tour the Halifax Shipyard Assembly Hall. The team also moved Mega Block 1 (stern end of the vessel), weighing in at 1,690 MT the next day.

Mega Block 3 transportation will take place sometime in October and the completed future HMCS Harry DeWolf scheduled for movement into the water and sea trials in the spring 2018. For each of these scopes of work, Irving Equipment will provide 48 axle lines of SPMTs and 3 PPUs. “Fagioli Canada and Irving Equipment established a teaming agreement that involves the AOPS project with the Halifax Shipyard. The two companies are working together on the heavy hauling of the Mega Blocks. Our two companies are sharing personnel and equipment, specifically the SPMTs. Irving Equipment is also providing cranes as required. The two companies have been working together in an amazing way in these first two weeks here in Halifax.” describes Mattia Melezi, Branch Manager, Fagioli Canada. 

“I gained experience with SPMTs in the oil industry in Alberta. Its exciting to be using the equipment in Halifax now. They're made for moving big things. This Mega Block is the first of many to be transported down to the landing area," said Craig Singleton, Crane & SPMT Technician, Irving Equipment. 

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