Allied Shipbuilders Ltd.

Allied Shipbuilders Ltd. is a shipyard in North Vancouver, British Columbia, founded in 1948 by T.A. McLaren, that provides shipbuilding, ship repair, conversion and engineering services to the commercial marine industry on the Pacific West Coast. The ten-acre yard at the mouth of the Seymour River can build vessels up to 400 feet and 10,000 dwt, and has delivered 259 hulls including tugs, barges, ferries, seiners, offshore supply vessels and icebreaking vessels. Two floating drydocks allow docking to 2,000 tons, and in recent decades the company describes itself as a ship repairer that also builds ships. Its Coast Engineering Works and Western Machine Works divisions produce shafting and stern gear and hydraulic tow pin units, the latter supplied to towing operators worldwide.

Founded in 1948 by T.A. (Arthur) McLaren, Allied Shipbuilders serves the coastal commercial marine industry on the west coast of British Columbia, Canada. The company has built 259 vessels over more than sixty years of continuous operation and, following the shipbuilding downturn of the mid-1980s, shifted its strategy to become a ship repairer capable of shipbuilding, with a competitive service region described as extending from Puget Sound to Alaska. Owned by the McLaren family for 64 years, the firm passed in February 2012 to long-serving Vice-President of Operations Chuck Ko, P.Eng., alongside co-owner Douglas McLaren; at that time it employed 120 people.

Services

New construction of steel and aluminum vessels, including delivery for erection at remote sites
Ship repair, refits, maintenance and modification to steel, aluminum and wooden vessels
Conversions: in-house design, structural modification, stability books, shelter decks, wheelhouses, stern ramps, fishhold installations, bow thrusters, rudder modifications, marine crane installations
Machinery installation: propulsion and auxiliary engines, marine gear, shafting, steering systems, deck machinery, hydraulic systems
Sandblasting and painting of hulls, superstructures, tanks and shaft tunnels
Coast Engineering Works: new shafts to order, tailshaft straightening to 10" diameter, couplings, rudders and stocks, sea valves, bearing rebabbitting and sales
Western Machine Works: hydraulic tow pin units with cable hold-down blocks and stern rollers, in 8", 12" and 16" pin diameters and 2- to 5-pin configurations

Facilities

Ten-acre site with capacity to build vessels up to 400 feet and 10,000 dwt
Two floating drydocks, docking to 2,000 tons (both designed and built in-house)
Working berths and fish net work barge
Joiner, machine, pipe and electrical shops; steel and aluminum prefabrication
On-site partners: Osborne Propellers Ltd. and Fishold Systems Ltd.

Vessel Types

Tugs, including ship berthing, Z-drive, shallow draft and icebreaking anchor-handling tugs
Barges: self-dumping log, cement, newsprint, ramp/ferry, spud and thruster barges
Vehicle and passenger ferries; ferry hull sections
Offshore supply and standby vessels (25 vessels for the offshore oil industry)
Fishing vessels, drum seiners, trawlers and longliners
Patrol, hydrographic survey, buoy tender and excursion vessels

Location

1870 Harbour Road, North Vancouver, B.C. V7H 1A1, Canada — at the mouth of the Seymour River on the north shore of Vancouver Harbour