CMISA shares renewed optimism

How did CMISA come about in 2018?

Its roots go back to 1945 when the owners of Canada’s 15 shipyards began to think about what was next after building some 1,000 merchant vessels and warships and more than 5,000 other marine craft – along with carrying out thousands of repairs – during World War II. They put together the Canadian Shipbuilding Association, which saw good and bad years before it became largely inactive. After the National Shipbuilding Strategy was announced in 2010 as a long-term plan to renew the federal government’s combat and non-combat fleets, it was felt by some companies that there wasn’t a national voice for the industry to relate concerns, opportunities and ideas. They put some money on the table to resurrect the organization and the first thing we realized was that the old name didn’t reflect all the enterprises involved.

Who is included within your membership now?

It embraces all the Canadian enterprises involved in everything from the initial architectural designs to engineering strategies to the procurement of all the necessary materials and equipment, to the building, as well as maintaining, repairing and possibly retrofitting and/or lifespan extending of a vessel, to recycling it when its time is done.

What are CMISA’s priorities?

I often joke with those who’ve been in the business a long time that if their plans haven’t gone off the rails by 9 a.m., it must be Sunday...

This busyness often leaves little or no time or resources to let others know what you can do for them. All this combined with Canada’s vastness makes the industry’s marketing a challenge. I have been working on making companies with mutual interests aware of each other, especially if there’s a good business opportunity. My second priority is to ensure that our industry maintains a good dialogue with all relevant government agencies. And, thirdly, to look for opportunities to take our Canadian expertise abroad.

What is the current awareness of Canada’s expertise?

We still need to do some work to let everyone know that we’re back! Canada did itself a disservice by shelving new shipbuilding projects after the Halifax-class frigate program was completed in 1996. As a result, a lot of our industry experts and skilled tradespeople retired, changed sectors, or left Canada. The National Shipbuilding Strategy or NSS has us back with not only large established companies but also providing innovative concepts from the smaller entities for the vessels we require now and into the future.

This extends to vessel maintenance and repair. It’s great to see this is being done in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence regions again rather than sending lakers abroad to be maintained or updated. Doing the work here saves time and money, drives our economy, and has a smaller environmental footprint.

What are the opportunities in tandem with the NSS?

It’s unlikely Canada will ever compete with the South Korean, Japanese or other huge shipyards building tankers or container ships, because those places are so well established now. However, CMISA’s members offer all sorts of niche expertise in terms of specialized patrol and search-and-rescue boats, icebreakers and ice-class vessels, offshore support vessels, tugboats and barges, along with other vessels. All that plus world-calibre equipment and technologies that can help improve fleets around the world. Our industry has undergone a resurgence over the past 20 years and is poised for great things in my view.

How do you view your membership’s role in terms of maritime transport’s decarbonization?

Maritime transportation is one of the few sectors that has been required to reach net zero carbon emissions globally by 2050. Let’s be super generous in saying that 5% of ships are effectively net zero already. This leaves us with a quarter of a century to replace or refit nearly all the world’s vessels. Yes, this can be seen as challenging and expensive, but when you consider that most commercial vessels have about a 25-year lifespan, this is also an incredible business opportunity! CMISA is working to do all it can to help its member companies to realize and embrace this potential to be a part of this green wave.

We’re also working to make all levels of government realize the value of the assets that exist already in helping with this energy transition.

We also sometimes forget that Ontario and Quebec are vital components of our nation’s blue economy, but they are a big part of it with their inland waterways.

What about U.S. partnerships?

It’s good to remind everyone that Canada has a special relationship with the United States not only in terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement but also as a trusted partner in terms of U.S. defence-related solutions. The longstanding Jones Act prevents Canadian shipyards from helping with the current large need for this type of work in the U.S., but there are various components and specific expertise that we can provide.

Back home, what are some of the other challenges?

Labour is an issue for almost everyone. I think it’s safe to say that our largest shipyards are not at the level they would like to be in terms of human resources to grow their business. Their recruitment sometimes leads to people leaving our smaller companies. It’s also difficult to get some people to move to more remote locations for work under shorter term contracts or to expensive cities like Vancouver where it’s difficult to live on an entry-level salary. Other areas find themselves vying with other sectors for skilled labour, such as the automotive companies in the Hamilton area or the aerospace industry in Montreal.

How are you addressing these challenges?

We’ve started to work more collaboratively with the various industry organizations nationally and regionally dealing with some of these key issues so that we can stay informed about developments and be aware of available resources while helping to develop solutions that work for everybody.

Green Marine provides a framework for what they can do beyond the environmental regulations that are already in place or imminent. It also gives the shipyards in the midst or next to a community a clear way to relate their efforts in being a good neighbour and their commitment to making further improvements.

The companies in our industry are proud of what they do and how well they do it. They want everyone to know their dedication to greater sustainability. Green Marine helps them to achieve new environmental goals and to convey their efforts.