Seaspan’s Welding Centre of Excellence Lab Obtains ISO Accreditation

Apr 4, 2025 - 5 months ago

Seaspan is excited to announce that the Welding Centre of Excellence (COE) lab at Vancouver Shipyards has successfully gained ISO accreditation.

The new ISO accreditation demonstrates the lab’s technical competence in mechanical testing, complementing its existing CWB certification. This is a significant opportunity for Seaspan to enter the competitive testing lab market and offer external customers testing services with accurate and traceable results.

A multi-purpose facility, the COE Lab is equipped with advanced scientific equipment to support various efforts – including qualifying Seaspan’s welding procedures, researching innovative welding techniques, and verifying various types of steel.

On a regular day, you might find a lab technician conducting tensile strength tests, hardness testing, Charpy impact testing, or chemical analysis on steel samples of various grades, including steel up to 60 mm thick for the Polar Icebreaker.

Currently, Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards is the only shipyard in Canada to have an ISO-accredited lab on-site. The COE lab, which was certified by CWB in January 2023, was officially accredited to ISO 17025 in December of 2024, marking a significant milestone for Seaspan and its in-house COE lab team.

“Our internal customers already know they can rely on us, and we’ve been supporting welding procedures testing for the Polar Icebreaker, as well as material testing for Victoria Shipyards with witnesses from the appropriate governing bodies ensuring the validity of our results,” said Dr. Hassan Saghafifar, Supervisor, Welding and Material Testing Lab, Seaspan Shipyards. “Now, we can extend our support to external customers too, as ISO accreditation shows that they can depend on us for accurate, timely testing and valid results.”

Looking to the future, Seaspan is continuing to expand its shipbuilding capabilities with various projects such as our Land Based Test Site, which will allow Seaspan to explore future shipbuilding opportunities and continue to drive improvements to our capabilities and expertise.

Quick Facts

Seaspan is one of the most modern shipyards in North America, following its privately funded $200M+ shipyard modernization, development of a skilled workforce and state-of-the-art, purpose-built infrastructure to deliver large, complex vessels.
Under the NSS, Seaspan has become a major economic and job creation engine. According to an economic analysis conducted by Deloitte, Seaspan has contributed $5.7 billion to Canada’s GDP since 2012, while also creating or sustaining more than 7,000 jobs annually.
Seaspan has invested more than $35 million to support education, learning, research, and skills development in the marine industry, with a special focus on reducing barriers for underrepresented groups, bringing a broad range of new talent into the industry and the trades, including more women and Indigenous people, and creating opportunities for youth through internships and apprenticeships.

Source: Seaspan