In case you haven’t heard, Metro Vancouver is getting a new SeaBus! We recently marked a very important milestone in the ship’s construction. TransLink and Damen Shipyards, the SeaBus’s builder, held a keel-laying ceremony in the Netherlands where the vessel is being built.

A long-standing, shipbuilding tradition is to place a newly minted coin under the keel and construct the ship around it. This tradition is said to bring luck to the ship during construction, and to the captain and crew during the ship’s life. During this keel-laying ceremony, we opted for a Canadian spin on this age-old tradition by welding a “lucky loonie”—in this case a silver Canada 150 commemorative coin—into the hull of the new SeaBus.

Mark Henderson, Director of SeaBus, was on hand for the ceremony. He said, “I’d like to acknowledge our partnership with the Government of Canada in funding this new vessel, which will play a major role in delivering our vision for the future of transportation in Vancouver.”

We’ll be back soon with progress updates on the exciting new addition to our fleet!

Author: Sarah Kertcher