Feast or famine has been the history of shipbuilding in 91原创鈥檚 Burrard Inlet.
New ship construction has oscillated between the abundance of the Second World War, when thousands were employed in local shipyards, to the scarcity of the last decade when the workforce dwindled to less than a couple of hundred.
News that the federal government will spend $3.3 billion at North 91原创鈥檚 Seaspan shipyard to build 10 non-combat vessels 鈥� in addition to the $8 billion coming to the yard to build seven other government vessels 鈥� catapults local shipbuilding once again into the plenty years.
George MacPherson, president of the Shipyard General Workers鈥� Federation, said the industry was poised for a rebound.
鈥淭he FastCats [for B.C. Ferries] were the last big vessels we built in B.C. and things have been dormant since. It鈥檚 been a real struggle,鈥� said MacPherson.
Shipbuilding in 91原创 goes back to the late 19th century when wooden ships were built here. But it took the First World War to begin the rapid expansion of steel shipbuilding, which laid the foundations for today鈥檚 industry.
Although the RCMP鈥檚 famous vessel the St. Roch 鈥� the first vessel to navigate the Northwest Passage in both directions 鈥� was built here in 1929, the Great Depression would be a period of decline and almost despair, according to a short history of B.C. shipbuilding found on the federation鈥檚 website.
However, the Second World War would put 25,000 to work as vessels were built in B.C. shipyards for the Royal Navy and the Royal 91原创 Navy, along with Liberty Ships and others.
The wartime output numbered 250 10,000-ton freighters, 15 frigates, three landing ships, 10 corvettes and 10 minesweepers, according to the federation.
The skills and equipment necessary to do this left a modern shipbuilding infrastructure that kept the yards busy well into the 1980s, when some began closing as business dwindled.
MacPherson said the decision by the provincial government to invest in the Spirit-class ferries kept local shipyards operating. In 1994 came the ill-considered decision by the government to build three fast ferries.
Since then, things have been pretty dormant, MacPherson said -- until the $8-billion federal government contract announced in 2011 that will see Seaspan build seven non-combat vessels. Construction of those ships has not yet begun.
鈥淚t (was) the longest dry spell we鈥檝e seen,鈥� MacPherson said.
The controversial 2004 decision to give German yards more than half a billion dollars in contracts to build the latest additions to the provincial ferry fleet still rankles with the union, which claims it cost British Columbians 5,000 jobs.
鈥淚f those contracts had come to Seaspan鈥檚 yard I think we would be in much better shape to handle these new government contracts,鈥� said MacPherson.
Although the Seaspan yard鈥檚 $11.3 billion in contracts announced Monday is dwarfed by the $25 billion awarded to the Irving Shipyard in Halifax, MacPherson believes B.C. got the better deal.
鈥淪easpan鈥檚 definitely the winner. We will be building non-combat vessels and when we鈥檝e finished we鈥檒l be left with infrastructure that can be used to build other kinds of civilian vessels. That鈥檚 not the case in Halifax, where they are building just combat vessels.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got work now for the next 20 years,鈥� MacPherson said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 a real boost.鈥�
