A tugboat and water taxi are seen docked at a renovated cruise ship known as a “floatel” that Woodfibre LNG planned to use to house 600 construction workers at a liquefied natural gas export facility near Squamish, at anchor in the harbour in Vancouver, on Thursday, May 9, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Woodfibre LNG makes application to add a second ‘floatel’ to house workers
SQUAMISH - Woodfibre LNG says it is hoping to add a second “floatel” at its project site near Squamish, B.C., to house as many as 900 workers for its liquefied natural gas project.聽
A tugboat and water taxi are seen docked at a renovated cruise ship known as a “floatel” that Woodfibre LNG planned to use to house 600 construction workers at a liquefied natural gas export facility near Squamish, at anchor in the harbour in Vancouver, on Thursday, May 9, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
SQUAMISH - Woodfibre LNG says it is hoping to add a second “floatel” at its project site near Squamish, B.C., to house as many as 900 workers for its liquefied natural gas project.聽
A statement from the company says it will submit an application to regulatory agencies to moor another floating hotel next to the ship that is already near the site for worker accommodations.聽
The approval of the first floatel was controversial after the District of Squamish voted to deny Woodfibre the permit over concerns of women’s safety, waste management and other issues, then B.C.‘s Environmental Assessment Office stepped in and authorized the ship.聽
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The company says in a statement that the second ship would undergo the same regulatory review process “through multiple levels of regulatory oversight,” and be moored near the project site about seven kilometres outside Squamish.聽
Woodfibre LNG says the MV Isabelle X, which is anchored offshore at the site, has minimized “any potential impact to the local housing market, local traffic or additional pressure on civic or health care services.”
The Woodfibre LNG facility is expected to be completed by 2027 and will produce approximately 2.1 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year for export.
鈥淚t is clear that Canada is looking to diversify its energy markets, and when complete, Woodfibre LNG will do exactly that by making more Canadian LNG available to Asian markets,鈥 said Luke Schauerte, CEO of Woodfibre LNG.聽
The company says if the second floatel is approved, it would enter into a contract with Bridgemans Services Group, the same Canadian company that procured and retrofit the MV Isabelle X.
A group that is part of a Federal Court challenge against the permits for the first floatel issued a statement Thursday condemning the second request for such accommodation for workers.聽
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My Sea to Sky says the impact of the project keeps getting bigger.聽
“It鈥檚 clear that Woodfibre LNG grossly underestimated the need for worker accommodation in their original proposal. Both the company and its regulators failed to listen to warnings from community members made over a decade ago that accommodation was scarce,” the group said in a statement.聽
The group said the judicial review is expected to be heard in Federal Court at the end of this month.聽
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2025.聽
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