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Satellite)
Heddle Shipyards leased this then dormant facility in 2017.
"Strategically located above
Lock One on the
Welland Canal, the Port Weller Dry Docks facility is the largest Canadian-owned dry dock facility on the Great Lakes. With two Seawaymax graving docks, as well as machine and fabrications shops, our Port Weller Dry Dock facility is a versatile ship repair and construction site. It also offers more than 1000 feet of wharfage and expansive cargo laydown areas." [
HeddleShipyards-port-weller]
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Shipyards
HeddleShipyards
"Strategically located above Lock One on the Welland Canal, the Port Weller Dry Docks facility is the largest Canadian-owned dry dock facility on the Great Lakes. With two Seawaymax graving docks, as well as machine and fabrications shops, our Port Weller Dry Dock facility is a versatile ship repair and construction site. It also offers more than 1000 feet of wharfage and expansive cargo laydown areas."
| Graving Dock #1 | 750’ x 80’ x 26’ over sill | | Graving Dock #2 | 807’ x 81’ x 14’4” over sill | | Fabrication and Machine Shops | 48,000 ft2, Three 10 Ton, 5 Ton, 20 Ton, Overhead Crane Capacity | | Berthage | 1,000 ft |
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HeddleShipyards-news
In 2020 they bought the assets of the Algoma Ship Repair, which was on the other end of the Welland Canal. And they bought several large pieces of equipment and machinery from the Stelco steel plant in Hamilton. As a result, they acquired a 48" swing lathe that they can use for propeller shaft machining. "For the first time in over a decade, the propeller shaft of a Great Lakes bulk carrier was turning in the shop at the Port Weller Dry Docks." |
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Bruce Jackson posted
Bow Wow! March of 2010 the Assiniboine was in dry dock in Port Weller. The canal was drained and the bow was open and we had a great view. |
Note the height of the axles on the
SPMT changing to accommodate the hump and slope of the ramp to keep the load level. This dock is on the Welland Canal so it is accessible by salties. I wonder if this was built in China, South Korea, Japan or Germany. (After seeing the comments about manufacturing defects, I'm even more curious about where it was manufactured.)
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Heddle Shipyards posted
Rolling off a 420 Ton ladle at the Port Weller Dry Docks.
Janey Anderson shared
James Torgeson shared
Sergey Gutin: It's a converter vessel.... Not a ladle...SMS design...
Ryan Brown: Sergey Gutin it's going back to the manufacturer for repair. Never got installed due to defects.
We were told irreparable cracks. Still under manufacture warranty as far as we are told. We have the top cone though, it's alright.
Sergey Gutin: Ryan Brown wow... That's pretty strange to hear about SMS equivalent... Furthermore, I've never seen this machine moved in assembled condition. Usually those vessels are delivered to site in several parts... Like the ring, lover, mid and upper shell... Why spending so much on the transport and not repairing at site?
Doug Majka: Ryan Brown I could only guess an irreparable crack would be in a trunnion pin. The rest of the vessel is just plates welded together, and any repair is not impossible. Where were the 3rd party NDT inspectors while they were fabbing it, and they should have had a final inspection even before it was shipped.
Arjan Koen: That's a BOF vessel indeed. Upside down without the cone. Vessel, trunnion ring and the big stiffy thing is the trunnion pin, this will be attached to the drive gear. The large plates are for tension and absorb vessel movement. When installed it can rotate 360 degrees, nice piece of engineering!
Brian Olson: I'm going to guess that is a K-OBM vessel for Dofasco. Sort of like a combination of a BOF and a Q-BOP. [Other comments confirm KOBM for Dofasco.]
Rob Kirton: Surprised they had to ship it all the way down to St Catharines. There’s no dock in Hamilton that could have loaded/unloaded it?
Bubba Dubs: Rob Kirton The height dock faces in Hamilton harbor are based on how high Lake Ontario is. This was at the Port Weller dry docks where they can control the water level, and thus the height over the dock face. This was done in the dry dock itself. |
Unlike
Sturgeon Bay, this shipyard can't switch ships being repaired during most winter layups because the canal is drained during the winter for maintenance!
The gates for these dry docks would have to be able to resist water pressure in both directions.
I saw this just a few hours after I watched the above "empty canal" video. If I hadn't seen the video, I would not have recognized what I was looking at.
Bill Jr Salton
posted two photos with the comment: "G3 Marquis and Amundsen in their Heddle Jail."
Steve Waller: More like hospital bed, IMO.
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Feb 12, 2022 Update: the paint jobs are different..
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Steve Waller posted
Rt Hon Paul J Martin in dry dock at Port Weller with Kaministiqua. 2020-0212 |
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Jim Steel posted
Port Weller Dry Docks. Picture taken in the winter of 1948 by Ted Steel (my dad). Busy times.
Mike Cunningham: Wow great picture, canal isn’t drained for obvious reasons. |
Four of thirteen photos
posted by Bill Jr Salton with the comment: "A small handful of photos from this morning. G3 Marquis is put into Heddle Shipyard's graving dock for some winter work (5 year due 2024). She was passed by the company's newest Equinox, Captain Henry Jackman a short time before."
[The first photo is near the end of a photo sequence showing the left-hand ship (Captain Henry Jackman) going through Lock #1 and the right-hand ship (G3 Marquis) is the one that the remaining three photos show being put into the graving dock.]
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Exposed drydock gates is a scene that brings out the ship fans to take photos.
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Frank McPhee posted
CCGS Amundsen and G3 Marquis in drydock at Heddle Marine. Welland Canal drained for the season. Jan. 12, 2022. |
Obviously, they did not drain the reach above Lock #1 in 2021. Otherwise, the third ship would spend the Winter setting on mud.
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Jan 7, 2021: Heddle Shipyards posted
For the first time in over a decade, the Port Weller Dry Docks will service three ships during the winter work period
HeddleShipyards-news
"Ships such as the CCGS Des Groseilliers, the MV Holiday Island ferry and the self-unloader Canadian Progress – the largest cargo vessel on the Great Lakes at the time – were all built at the Port Weller Dry Docks. By the 1990’s, the Port Weller Dry Docks was the lone Canadian shipbuilder on the Great Lakes and eventually went insolvent in the early 2000’s. Over the next seventeen years, multiple owners attempted to resurrect the once great shipyard but with little success. In 2013, the Port Weller Dry Docks finally shut its doors for good and the storied tradition of Ontario’s largest shipbuilding facility came to a final and unceremonious close. That is until 2017 when Heddle Shipyards took over operation of the Port Weller Dry Docks and the awesome task of revitalizing one of Canada’s largest ship repair and construction facilities. Over the past three years, Heddle has steadily grown our book of business at the Dry Docks and in the winter of 2021, we have achieved another significant milestone. This winter, the Port Weller Dry Docks is servicing three Canada Steamship Line’s vessels. This is the first time in well over a decade that the St. Catharines shipyard will have three full sized lakers during a winter work campaign. The CSL Niagara, the CSL Assiniboine and the CSL Laurentien, are all undergoing dry-docking and alongside works and will depart the shipyard upon the Seaway’s reopening in the spring." |
I had never noticed the platform crane in the closeup photos. But when I went back and looked, this crane is along the dock.
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Martin Hademeck posted
"Algoma Equinox" coming at you in near Port Weller Dry Docks, St.Catharines. |
Martin Hademeck posted two photos with the comment: "Port Weller Dry Dock facility in the Summer & Winter. (St.Catharines)"
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Jan 20, 2021: Heddle Shipyards posted
The @cslships MV CSL Niagara and MV CSL Laurentien snug at the Port Weller Dry Docks with the MV CSL Assiniboine waiting her turn. |
The reach was drained in 2020.
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Jan 22, 2020: Heddle Shipyards posted
The Port Weller Dry Docks are busier than ever this winter. For the first time since Heddle took over the facility in 2017, both docks will be occupied for the duration of the winter works period. |
Heddle Shipyards
posted on May 6, 2020, three photos with the comment: "Pulling the shaft on the CCGS Amundsen."
Dan Mathers: Why are they pulling the shaft? Is it becoming a museum ship?
Greg Koelpien: Dan Mathers most likely inspecting bearings.
Ryan Johnson: Dan Mathers ships are required to have an underwater inspection every 5 years. They inspect the rudders, shafts and any valves that are connected to the hull below the waterline.
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Jul 1, 2021: Heddle Shipyards posted
Working on Canada’s ships on Canada’s day. Preparing to install the @coastguardcan CCGS Pierre Radisson’s port shaft at the Port Weller Dry Docks. |
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Jul 6, 2021: Heddle Shipyards posted
The @coastguardcan CCGS Pierre Radisson and the MV CSL Oakglen at the Port Weller Dry Docks. |
I couldn't resist the pun.
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Heddle Shipyards posted
The daily grind |
I presume the ship with the wind-turbine load is docked there to be unloaded rather than repaired.
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Heddle Shipyards posted
The MV Alanis and the CSL Oakglen at the Port Weller Dry Docks. |
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Carl Burkett shared Algoma Central on Twitter
Brian R. Wroblewski: Yeah, a Canadian laker built overseas being repaired in a yard where they used to make Canadian lakers. |
Bill Jr Salton
posted eleven photos with the comment:
Took the drone over the dredging site at Heddle Shipyards today. The other reaches of the Canal (locks 2 to 7) are between 1/2-3/4 full as of this afternoon, but this lower reach remains untouched to let the crews finish up. Opening date for the canal is March 24th, 2 weeks tomorrow. Quick video attached:
[Judging from the first photo, they are increasing the draft by quite a bit. Judging by the depth of the piles, they are taking the bottom back down to its original depth since the shipyard is operational again.]
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Screenshot @ 2:20
"While the rest of the canal begins to fill for the 2022 season, some crucial winter work continues above Lock 1. Ships accessing the fitting out wall at Heddle Marine often required de-ballasting to avoid running aground on the shelf. Since mid-January, crews have been working to fix that issue, one ship-width at a time. I can only assume another ship's-width may be dredged out next winter." |
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Heddle Shipyards posted
Ontario was once a shipbuilding powerhouse in Canada. Together, we will BRING SHIPBUILDING BACK TO ONTARIO.
Janey Anderson shared
Jonathan Polderman: This will be great if they can convince the Canadian shipping companies to stop having China build their ships.
Rick Stout: Sadly there is such a cost difference in labour rates, Canada can't compete on new ship building. I can't afford to work for peanuts and neither can the average Canadian. And when shipping companies need a ship, like you and I, we as consumers go where we can get the best price.
JB Weir: I went to refit in the Heddle yard in Hamilton. They didn't have a carpenter shop. A labourer destroyed 2 cabins exposing bulkheads for firewatch. |
3 of 12 photos
posted by Bobby Dzz.
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Frank McPhee posted
The Algoma Guardian, in drydock at Heddle Marine.
[Heddle has three shipyards, but this is the only one with two adjacent drydocks. The adjacent ship is the CCGS icebreaker Amundsen. Summer would be the off season for icebreakers. Some comments indicate that three freighters are in layup until September because of a lack of cargo, so they are getting some repairs done while they are not needed.] |
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1 of 13 photos and videos posted by Michel Gosselin
AML Louis Jolliet is in the Welland canal on October 19, 2022. Destination is Heddle Shipyards. Built in 1938 as a ferry has been converted into a excursion boat. Owned by Croisière AML, Inc of Quebec City.
Michel Gosselin shared
[It went through Lock #1 on the Welland Canal to get here.] |
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1 of 5 photos posted by Bobby Dzz
Caught this beauty at Heddle Shipyard.
Oct. 23, 2022
[The other four photos are closeups of the former ferry.] |
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4:53 video (source)
One of the mobile cranes at the Heddle Shipyards in St. Catharines was on the move on October 3, 2022. |
Maritime Magazine 2022-11-01
HUGE NEWS FOR HEDDLE SHIPYARD - BRAVO!!
St. Catharines, ON – Heddle Shipyards has been awarded a $135.5 million dollar contract for the Vessel Life Extension (VLE) of the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker (CCGS) Terry Fox – securing the future of the Port Weller Dry Docks for the next generation of Ontario shipbuilders. The nearly three-year project will involve an extensive engineering, planning and procurement phase, with shipyard work scheduled to begin in December 2023.
This multi-year project will create and sustain over 200 hundred jobs at the Port Weller Dry Docks through the summer of 2025 when the CCGS Terry Fox is scheduled for redelivery.
As the largest single project in the history of the Canadian Coast Guard’s VLE Program, the CCGS Terry Fox VLE will create broad economic and social benefits for St. Catharines, the Niagara Region, Ontario and Canada.
As a proud «Ontario Made company, Heddle Shipyards will leverage our local Ontario supply chain to ensure the Canadian Coast Guard has the ships it needs to fulfill its critical missions for decades to come.
The CCGS Terry Fox Vessel Life Extension Project is transformational for Heddle Shipyards and Ontario, says Heddle President and CEO, Shaun Padulo. The award of the project marks the conclusion of phase one of our five-year business plan developed in 2021 and will provide Heddle with the platform to become Canada’s partner for future Vessel Life Extension projects and the construction of vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy. I am extremely proud of our people and excited for our future. Our goal was to bring Ontario into the National Shipbuilding Strategy in a meaningful way, and the Terry Fox is just the tip of the iceberg.
Winter 2023:
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1 of 4 photos posted by Bobby Dzz
CSL Tadoussac and St. Laurent tucked away at Heddle Marine for the winter.
Bobby Dzz shared
[The canal is partially drained.]
Steve Guc: One of the docks is 14'4" over the sill and the other is deeper at 26'. |
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Bill Jr Salton commented on Bobby's post
St Laurent being moved into that dock last week. Tadoussac arrived a few days later. |
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Ryan Vishnu posted
Newbie question:
What is this opening for?
Thank you,
RV
Richard Jenkins: It’s the intake for filling the drydocks. The outflow when they are draining them comes out below Lock 1, the draining and filling of these drydocks is all done by gravity.
[So that is why they built it near a lock.] |
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John Dahl posted
Algotitan in for maintenance at Heddle Shipyards/Port Weller.
Steve Waller: With the tug Presque Isle in the other dock |
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1 of 10 photos posted by Michel Gosselin, cropped
Sea Eagle II/St. Marys Cement II are tied up at the Heddle shipyard on December 4-5, 2023. They’re loading the barge with cement. This is the first time that I’ve seen this barge getting cargo.
Michel Gosselin shared
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Dennis DeBruler commented on Michel's shaere
That long building by the dock is new. I presume that is where the cement was loaded from. https://maps.app.goo.gl/iq9LRMeAR4eXC9RS7
Michel Gosselin: Dennis DeBruler it was built just a couple of months ago. As for loading cement, I couldn’t see anything between the building and the loading machine
Dennis DeBruler: Michel Gosselin I don't seen anything feeding the loading machine. That is why I assumed there was an underground conveyor or pipes between the new building and the loading machine. It is intereting that they are loading cement with a conveyor instead of pnemantic loading. |
14 photos of Feb 2024 action (
source) A comment on the first photo indicates that the name has been changed from Heddle Shipyards to Ontario Shipyards Port Weller. It is just a name change, not an ownership change. Both the
Algoma Compass and the
Leo A McArthur/
John J Cariick ATG are in the dry dock.
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Heddle Shipyards posted
The 2024 winter works season was one of major milestones at Ontario Shipyards and the busiest at the Port Weller Dry Docks in over a decade. With the Seaway set to open soon, our METTLE is on full display as we make the final push to complete winter works maintenance projects and ensure our client's vessels are ready for the upcoming navigation season. Thank you to the hard-working men and women at Ontario Shipyards who have made the first three months of 2024 a success and we look forward to what promises to be one of the most exciting years in our organization's history.
Janey Anderson shared
Bring it [shipping season] on!!! |
Heddle Shipyards posted two photos with the comment: "Last night, Ontario Shipyards and team Vigilance unveiled the future state of the Port Weller Docks, the proposed build site for Canada’s Multi Mission Corvette Program. Together with our partner companies, we will bring shipbuilding back to Ontario. Thank you to everyone who attended, especially the preferred suppliers who made the event a resounding success."
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