It was with great pride that on June 4th, Heddle Shipyards delivered its most recent new build project, the Kearl Lake small ice breaking hull. In partnership with Hike Metals from Wheatly, Ontario, Heddle Shipyards was awarded the hull portion of the new build ice class work boat for use in the oil sands tailings ponds. The hull has been delivered to Hike Metals, where they will complete the fit out and final delivery.
The partnership is a testament to how competing interests can collaborate and achieve a mutual benefit.. Hike Metals has proved an excellent partner to work with and we hope to build on this already strong relationship. In the highly competitive world of ship repair and construction it is important that co-operation exists within the industry. It is well known that the big shipyards in this country are maxed out with large federal procurement contracts and it is important for the smaller yards to band together in order to keep Canadian ship building in Canada.
The project marks another milestone for Heddle Shipyards as the company continues to build on a strong vessel construction reputation and position itself for bigger and more complex build projects. Hot on the heels of the Kearl Lake build is another new build currently underway in the Hamilton fabrication facility. A forty-foot, self propelled pontoon barge is slated to launch at the end of June and will be delivered to the clients in Georgian Bay in July.