Strong competition for Irving :
http://montrealgazette.com/business/...-a-rising-tide
" Signed last fall and approved by the new Liberal government in January, the so-called Resolve project revolves around the Davie-paid conversion of a fuel tanker it bought for $20 million in Europe into a $450-million sea oiler replenishment ship for the RCN.
If and when it is delivered on schedule by the end of 2017, Davie and OMERS-owned project partner V. Ships, the world’s largest ship management company with an office in downtown Montreal, will also provide a 40-man crew to operate the non-combat vessel. "
OMERS is the pension fund for Ontario municipal employees and this is V Group :
http://www.vships.com/about-us.aspx
OMERS has 2 members on the board as well as the former CEO of OMERS.
Later in the article : " Financed by a Canadian fund he refused to identify, saying only that it specializes in infrastructure and asset lending, Vicefield said the Resolve project is helping Davie pump millions of dollars into the Quebec economy through jobs and purchases from nearly 600 suppliers, 113 of them in Montreal. "
Any bets the fund is OMERS or the Caisse or CPPIB ?
And then this : " Davie’s aggressiveness and success are driving its two main Canadian rivals — Halifax’s Irving and Vancouver’s Seaspan — to distraction.
Despite being contracted to build up to 40 vessels worth $38 billion over 30 years, the two yards are feeling the heat from public criticism of cost overruns and construction delays in the much-maligned federal ship procurement program. .......Davie has also hired away some top talent from Irving, sparking a war of words and some lawsuits.
However Irving followed Davie’s lead in May, when it made an unsolicited bid to build a $300-million ship within a year that would be specifically designed to aid in a humanitarian crisis or with refugee relief.
“I think they’re running scared,” said Davie’s chief operational officer, Laurie LeRue.
A 37-year shipbuilding industry veteran who was director of naval refits at Irving’s Halifax shipyard when he left three years ago to join Davie, LeRue said the Lévis yard has the wind in its sails thanks to the energy and expertise of its British owners. "