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  3 juin 2019 | Local, Naval

  No icebreakers in federal government’s $15.7B plan for new coast-guard ships

  By Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press OTTAWA — The Canadian Coast Guard's recent struggles resupplying northern communities and rescuing ice-jammed ferries appear set to continue despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's promise to spend $15.7 billion on "a complete fleet renewal." That's because none of the 18 vessels the government announced last week that it plans to buy will be an icebreaker, meaning the coast guard will be forced to continue relying on its existing icebreaker fleet for the foreseeable future. Many of those are nearing — or have already exceeded — their expected lifespans, which has resulted in breakdowns and other problems that have affected coast-guard operations, such as resupply runs and assisting ferries in winter. Federal procurement minister Carla Qualtrough acknowledged on the sidelines of the annual Cansec arms-trade show this week "there's definitely a capability gap on icebreakers," but wouldn't say when it would be addressed. Qualtrough instead indicated that any announcement on more ships for the coast guard would likely come after the government adds a third shipyard to the two that are already partners in the federal shipbuilding plan. "There's definitely more ships coming," she said on Thursday. "It will really be dependent on how long it takes the third yard to get itself ready to build the kind of ships we need." The search is expected to start in the coming weeks, but while many observers expect Davie Shipbuilding in Quebec City to emerge victorious, a senior government official maintained a decision is unlikely before October's election. The government's planned $15.7-billion investment unveiled last week includes two Arctic patrol ships to be built by Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax and 16 so-called multipurpose vessels from Seaspan Shipbuilding in Vancouver. But those vessels are what officials describe as "ice-capable," rather than icebreakers, meaning the coast guard will need to continue to rely on its existing fleet for many of its operations. The icebreaker fleet did receive a boost on Thursday, when the Canadian Coast Guard officially welcomed the CCGS Molly Kool to its ranks after several months of conversion work at Davie. The CCGS Molly Kool is the first of three second-hand icebreakers that Davie has sold to the government, which the coast guard has said it plans to use for the next 15 to 20 years to fill any gaps until replacements are built. But while the government is spending millions to refit its current icebreakers, which are on average 35 years old, and keep them running as long as possible, the question remains when those replacements will arrive. The only new icebreaker currently in the government's multibillion-dollar shipbuilding plan is the polar-class CCGS John G. Diefenbaker, which was expected in 2017 before various delays pushed it back to the next decade. "We haven't built a coast guard-designed icebreaker since 1983. That was the last time," said Rob Huebert, an expert on the coast guard at the University of Calgary. "And anything we have bought is usually second-hand from industry." The coast guard doesn't have clout in Ottawa, Huebert said, which has translated into a lack of long-term planning or investment by successive governments — except when there are political points to be scored. And while the addition of a third yard to the federal shipbuilding plan should mean icebreakers will follow soon after, Huebert said it is all ad hoc and will simply lead to the same problems down the road. "I get incensed by the fact that we do not have any form of a long-term coast-guard renewal for icebreakers." Documents obtained by The Canadian Press warned more than a third of the coast guard's 26 large vessels, including its icebreakers, had exceeded their expected lifespans — and that many wouldn't survive until replacements arrived. The fleet's advanced age was also already affecting the coast guard's ability to do its job, including reduced search-and-rescue coverage, ferry-service disruptions and cancelled resupply runs to Arctic and coastal communities. —Follow @leeberthiaume on Twitter Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2019/05/31/no-icebreakers-in-federal-governments-15-6b-plan-for-new-coast-guard-ships/#.XPFqzBZKiUl

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  6 mars 2024 | Local, Naval

  Royal Canadian Navy's new Arctic ships have a severe flooding problem, say sailors

  Broken anchors and flooding are problems on Royal Canadian Navy's Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships.

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  1 avril 2019 | Local, Naval

  Two federal ministers offer lifeline for Quebec’s Chantier Davie shipyard

  By Kevin Dougherty QUEBEC—Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos offered hope on Friday that the Chantier Davie shipyard in Lévis, across the St. Lawrence from the provincial capital, would soon be busy working on federal shipbuilding contracts. Chantier Davie is well-placed to be awarded contracts to build three new federal ferries and is also a contender to win contracts to refit Canada's 12 naval frigates, noted Duclos, who is also MP for Québec riding, taking in the city's core. Morneau has been using a pause this week in Parliament to travel across Canada touting the benefits of the budget he presented March 19. He was asked after his chamber of commerce speech about specific commitments for the Quebec City region, such as Mayor Régis Labeaume's proposed tramway and the repainting of the rust-marred Quebec Bridge. “The money is there for the tramway,” Morneau said. There is also federal money to repaint the bridge, the finance minister added. But negotiations are continuing with the province. Asked about a proposal for more rapid, more frequent passenger rail service between Montreal and Quebec City, Morneau said, “We need to have more information.” Then he added, with a smile, “If we had more Liberals MPs (from the region), that would make it easier.” Last January, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau left his chamber of commerce audience in Quebec City cold, rejecting appeals to grant Davie a contract to build a new supply ship for the Royal Canadian Navy. “The navy doesn't need a second supply ship now,” Trudeau said, in reply to representatives of Davie's union and representatives of nearly 900 companies in Davie's supply chain. Chantier Davie, as Canada's oldest and largest shipyard has been known since a 2012 ownership change, is dependent on the boom-bust cycles of stop-and-go government contracts. In 2011, when the Conservative government was awarding billions of dollars in shipbuilding contracts, Davie, then bankrupt, was excluded, with all future navy and coast guard ships to be built by smaller shipyards, Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax and Seaspan in Vancouver. In 2015, before the federal election, Davie proposed to the Conservative government of Stephan Harper that it convert a German container ship into a supply ship for the navy. Ottawa was in a jam then after Canada's two outdated supply ships had been scrapped and the navy was relying on the Spanish and Chilean navy supply ships. Davie delivered the Asterix supply ship on time and on budget in 2017. Since that time, the company has been calling on Ottawa to order the Obelix, a twin supply ship to the Asterix for the navy. On Thursday, visiting Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said if he was prime minister, the Obelix would go ahead, winning applause from his chamber of commerce audience. Scheer also endorsed the “third link,” Premier François Legault's pet project, the plan, which is yet to reach the planning stage, to build a third bridge or tunnel across the St. Lawrence. Joël Lightbound, who with Duclos makes up the two-MP Liberal caucus in Quebec City, where the Conservatives dominate, deadpanned to reporters, “One more step and Mr. Scheer would have promised world peace and the return of the Nordiques.” On Friday, it was the turn of the two Liberal ministers. Asked by a reporter what commitments the Trudeau government was prepared to make for Davie, a major employer in the region, Morneau called Davie “important for our industry in Canada.” Morneau suggested that if reporters spoke to Davie representatives at the luncheon, “You will see the smiles on their faces.” Duclos added that Davie was “wrongfully harmed” by being excluded from the Harper government's National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy. “There are things that the previous government did that our government cannot undo,” he added. In helping Davie, the federal government agreed to its offer to convert three icebreakers, built for cancelled offshore oil-drilling projects, for the Canadian Coast Guard. “You saw the three icebreakers we acquired a few months ago,” Duclos said. “The first icebreakers the government has acquired in 25 years.” Frédérik Boisvert, vice-president of Davie and one of the Davie representatives at the chamber of commerce luncheon, said the ferry and frigate refit contracts have not been awarded yet. But Davie is confident. “We're extremely well-positioned,” he said. “You can quote me on that, given that the other two shipyards are at full capacity.” The Morneau budget called for replacing the MV Madeleine, linking Quebec's Îles de la Madeleine with Prince Edward Island; the MV Holiday Island, running between P.E.I. and Nova Scotia; and building a new ferry for Marine Atlantic, linking Newfoundland to the continent. “They have to be built in Canada,” Boisvert said. “The two other shipyards are at full capacity so, logically, it's coming to us,” he said. “Maybe (there will be) an announcement before the end of June.” On the frigate refits, Davie is hoping to get contracts to refit at least four of the warships. “Negotiations are underway, and they should be wrapped up soon.” https://ipolitics.ca/2019/03/29/two-federal-ministers-offer-lifeline-for-quebecs-chantier-davie-shipyard/