Vancouver-based Seaspan Shipyards is investing $1.5m on robotic systems to enhance the shipbuilding processes.
The company has awarded a contract to Confined Space Robotics (CSR) to develop and integrate semiautonomous robotic systems designed to handle blast and paint operations across its ship and submarine businesses.
Headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, CSR is a specialist in the design, development, and integration of cutting-edge robotic systems for industrial applications.
Under this contract, CSR leverages Canadian expertise and components to develop several products for use on collaborative robot systems, equipping them with specialized tools such as needle scalers, laser ablation systems, grinders, grit-blasters, and spray-coating tools.
These systems will be mounted on mobility platforms for manual manoeuvring and will include custom-developed software to control path planning and user operations.
The $1.5m investment with CSR is part of Seaspan’s Value Proposition commitment under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS).
Seaspan has, so far, delivered four vessels under the NSS, with three others currently under construction. In total, Seaspan will design, build, and deliver up 23 ships for the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Coast Guard.
The company has a workforce of around 5,000 people in North Vancouver and Victoria.
“The National Shipbuilding Strategy is about more than building ships; it is about building a sustainable, high-functioning shipbuilding ecosystem which contributes to Canada’s economy,” said Dave Hargreaves, Seaspan Shipyards’ senior vice president – strategy, business development and communications.
“Seaspan is excited to be announcing this new partnership with Confined Space Robotics which will grow our shipbuilding supply chain in Alberta while further strengthening two of Seaspan’s key workplace initiatives, sustainability and employee health and safety,” he added.
