Davie Shipyard May be Liquidated

Published May 25, 2006 12:01 AM by The Maritime Executive

Davie Shipyard in Quebec City, Canada could be sold off in auction unless a last-minute solution can be found. The shipyard, Canada’s oldest, has been bankrupt for years and is manned by skeleton crew. Davie Trustees have said that unless a buyer can be found, every asset on the property will be liquidated at public auction.

The sale has become necessary because the deadline for a bid by the third potential buyer expired at the end of March. If a deal can’t be put together before next month's sale of the company's rolling stock, it will probably mean the end for Davie. An auction which is expected to attract thousands of bidders will be held on June 12th.

There is still hope that the yard can be sold. The Navamar Consortium, which includes Norwegian-based Teco Management, is reportedly in talks to buy the yard, which is estimated at about $30 million.

The demise of the shipyard follows other high profile shipyard closings throughout North America, especially in the United States. North American shipyards have had difficulty competing with the pricing models of Asians builders, and have been largely confined to government work for some time. Built in 1825, the Davie Shipyard at one time employed as many as 3,000 workers and the largest vessel ever constructed in Canada was completed there in 1970; the 80,000 ton “KRITI WAVE.”