Over the next 30 years, Irving Shipbuilding is revitalizing the Royal Canadian Navy’s combatant fleet by constructing up to 21 modern vessels. The Halifax Shipyard is one of the most modern shipbuilding facilities in the world.
Challenge
To design and construct a shipbuilding facility to safely and efficiently build Canada’s future naval fleet.
Solution
PEMA Panel Line with plate butt welding and integrated profile assembling and welding. Automated systems operated with PEMA WeldControl 100 hi-tech managing system.
Benefits
Highest safety and ergonomics at work, efficiency and improved quality in panel fabrication.
A vibrant and sustainable shipyard
Irving Shipbuilding Inc. located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, has a proud history as Canada’s shipbuilder. The company has built over 80% of Canada’s current fleet, and its Halifax Shipyard has been at the forefront of Canadian shipbuilding for more than 125 years. Irving Shipbuilding has successfully served a wide range of industries around the globe, providing efficient building, fabrication, conversion, and servicing of vessels and offshore platforms.
In 2012, Irving Shipbuilding was selected to construct Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) followed by Canadian Surface Combatants (CSC) for the Royal Canadian Navy, under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS). Irving Shipbuilding will revitalize Canada’s combatant fleet for the next 30 years by constructing up to 21 modern vessels.
The long-term certainty of the NSS led to Irving Shipbuilding investing in its Halifax Shipyard to build North America’s most modern and largest undercover shipbuilding facility. Irving Shipbuilding’s work under the NSS is benefiting Canadians across the country, with spending commitments, including contracts awarded and investments in the marine industry, in almost every province and territory.
PEMA state-of-art flat Panel line
In order to start the massive project while maintaining its operation philosophy, Irving Shipbuilding needed a solution that would be able to provide impeccable quality and the highest safety. Additionally, complete reliability was required to meet the needs of the new combat vessels.
The delivered solution – PEMA Panel line – is a complete line that utilizes Pemamek’s long time partners Lincoln Electric’s power sources and MicroStep’s plasma cutting machine. The line includes everything from plate butt welding to web mounting and welding, making it the most advanced and innovative panel line in the continent. Features among others are that information for exact panel cutting, profile location marking and finally for welding is coming directly from the design software.
Thanks to a special covered conveyor solution, the panel line makes working on the line safer and transporting of welded panels smoother. Solutions such as hydraulic one-sided welding station, panel cutting, blasting and marking-station, and an integrated stiffener mounting and welding station, provide Irving Shipbuilding’s Halifax Shipyard with modern technological innovations to safely and efficiently building Canada’s future naval fleet.