March 2, 2024
This story originally appeared in the North Shore News.
Fantastic pay, working close to home and generous union benefits are sweeteners that can entice for any job.
But for Troy Neuman, all of those perks pale in comparison to safely returning home each day to his wife and two young daughters.
Because without health and safety, all the money in the world is meaningless.
That universal truth – and commitment to employee safety – is always job number one at North Vancouver’s Seaspan Shipyards, where Neuman has worked for eight years as a Red Seal steamfitter.
“Everything we do is based around the idea of 100% safety first and safety always,” Neuman says. “In the last few years, myself and more experienced employees make a point to really show the way to the newer workers that we take safety very seriously.”
Seaspan Shipyards is committed to using the latest safety equipment and technology, while continually investing in its workforce.
Red Seal heavy duty mechanic Remy Herda has worked at Seaspan Shipyards since 2022, and holds that notion of uncompromising safety near and dear to his heart as well. Like Neuman, he is a husband and father to a young daughter.
“When you’re working in such a big environment, you have to stay sharp and look after yourself and your coworkers,” Herda says. “We are on top of safety every day and every morning starts with a safety briefing with supervisors.”
Commitments are a crucial and continual theme at the Seaspan Shipyards, a rewarding place to work with diverse and challenging opportunities for growth.
“I have very big ambitions when it comes to progressing and pushing myself further,” Herda says. “Seaspan gives me the options to continue moving my life further into management or supervising and I’m committed to that.”
Seaspan’s commitments extend from coast to coast, as Seaspan Shipyards is currently constructing the longest ships ever built in Canada. Two Joint Support Ships will be built to provide support to the Royal Canadian Navy, through the re-supply of fuel, food, ammunition, spare parts and other supplies for Canadian and allied ships at sea.
Seaspan Shipyards is also constructing one Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel (OOSV) for the Canadian Coast Guard, which will be the primary oceanographic science platform for Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Equipped with the latest scientific research apparatus, the OOSV will be able to meet its crucial mission to increase our overall understanding of the impact that climate change has on the oceans.
These are two examples of the diverse projects Seaspan employees are currently working on. The work is both rewarding and interesting – and there’s more of it in the decades to come including soon, Seaspan Shipyards will begin work on a Polar Icebreaker, the first to be built in Canada within nearly 60 years.
To that end, Seaspan Shipyards is hiring hundreds of skilled trades workers in the Lower Mainland across numerous skilled trades positions: welders, millwrights, electricians, pipefitters and more.
This is exciting work on projects of national importance that will be used by Canadians for generations – jobs that you can truly say you were part of something significant.
“It is truly interesting work,” Neuman says. “We recently had a family day where we could show our families what we do here and when my wife and kids saw these projects, that really re-ignited that flame of excitement in building these ships and seeing them launch.”
Ready to build your future? Visit www.seaspan.com/the-future-is-yours-to-build today to get started.