HALIFAX The president of Irving Shipbuilding has left the company for unspecified reasons.

In a brief e-mailed statement, spokeswoman Mary Keith says that Steve Durrell is no longer working with the shipbuilder.

She writes that the company is seeking a replacement and that in the interim Ross Langley, vice chairman of Irving Shipbuilding, will lead the operation owned by the Saint John, N.B.-based Irving family.

Keith says Durrell had worked for the Company for more than 27 years, and the company appreciates his long-term commitment to Irving Shipbuilding.

Last year Ottawa announced that the Irving shipyard would receive the lions share of its $35-billion federal shipbuilding procurement project.

Under the deal, the shipyard won the right to bid on $25 billion worth of combat vessels.