North Vancouver locals might be surprised to spot the familiar Seaspan Careen floating drydock absent from its usual location near the Burrard pier and instead being lifted onto a gigantic heavy-lift ship in the middle of Vancouver Harbour.
This is part of planned upgrades as Seaspan’s Vancouver Drydock beginning in February 2026 that will ensure that the Seaspan Careen, a familiar landmark in the Shipyards District, can continue supporting major ship launches and vessel repairs for years to come.
To complete the upgrades, the Careen will be loaded onto a heavy-lift ship, the GPO Emerald, in Burrard Inlet and transported to Indonesia, where specialized facilities can accommodate a structure of its size.
The Careen is one of three floating drydocks utilized at Seaspan’s Vancouver Drydock to lift barges, cruise ships, ferries, coast guard vessels and smaller boats, like the local SeaBus, out of the water for repairs and maintenance.
Measuring 140 metres in length, the Careen has an incredible lifting capacity of up to 30,000 tonnes and has supported past ship launches at Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards including the Royal Canadian Navy’s first Joint Support Ship, HMCS Protecteur and the Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel (OOSV), CCGS Naalak Nappaaluk , delivered by Seaspan to the Canadian Coast Guard in November 2025.
This transport operation will be managed by experienced professional mariners, with Seaspan working closely with the port authority to maintain safety standards and emergency response protocols.
The deck of a floating drydock can be fully submerged below the sea surface by filling ballast tanks with sea water. Tugboats are then able to move a ship or barge into place over the deck. The ballast water is then pumped out, raising the dock and lifting the vessel out of the water for repairs.
The planned upgrades will ensure the Careen is ready to support upcoming ship launches, including HMCS Preserver (JSS 2) later this year and the future heavy polar icebreaker currently being built for the Canadian Coast Guard, while continuing to enable the safe maintenance and repair of a range of vessels in the Pacific Northwest over the next 20 to 30 years.
(Seaspan Shipyards photo)