Seaspan is appealing to Ottawa to be the choice to build the Canadian Coast Guard’s next flagship, the CCGS John G. Diefenbaker. Their pitch involves an arrangement in which, if the Vancouver shipbuilder gets the contract to build the polar icebreaker, it will hire Newfoundland-based Genoa Design International to do part of the work. The goal is to show how the deal could benefit different parts of the country. Seaspan initially won the contract to build the CCGS John G. Diefenbaker in 2011, under Harpers administration, through Ottawa’s multibillion-dollar shipbuilding strategy. At the time, Seaspan was contracted to built seven ships for $8 billion. But due to scheduling conflicts, technical problems and other issues, Ottawa asked shipyards in March to explain how and why they should get the contract.
