Are Canada’s Coast Guard Icebreakers Ready?

Date: 21 Feb 2017
Source: http://maritime-executive.com/article/are-canadas-coast-guard-icebreakers-ready

As the ice is receding in the Arctic, human activity has been on the rise. Will Canada’s Coast Guard icebreakers be there when we need them? Pierre Leblanc, a retired colonel and a former commander of the Canadian Forces in the Arctic, would like to see more icebreakers in operation:

The temperature at the North Pole on December 22, 2016, was 32F (0C), up some 36F (20C). Nature is baffling scientists by what seems to be an accelerating warming of the Arctic and the predictable impact on sea ice. That and the summer 2016 voyage through the Northwest Passage of the Crystal Serenity with more than 1,600 souls on board, and the Chinese plans to use the Northwest Passage should cause us to have a closer look at our fleet of icebreakers to see if we are prepared to deal with the massive changes taking place in the Arctic and our international commitments.

When I was the commander of the Joint Task Force North, my Canadian Coast Guard colleagues used to jest about the need for more icebreakers by saying, “Less ice means more icebreakers, more ice also means more icebreakers.”

On the surface, it is counterintuitive until you realize that when there is less ice, that ice will move around unpredictably and will strand vessels that will then need an icebreaker to free them. As the ice disappears, Arctic maritime traffic will continue to increase and the possibility of vessels becoming icebound will also increase.

What alarms me at the moment is that our fleet of the seven icebreakers that are deployed in the Arctic has either passed or is approaching its end of service, with only one known planned new Arctic-capable icebreaker, the CCG Diefenbaker, to be built by Seaspan Marine Corporation as part of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy. It is planned to be in service by 2025.

Compare this with the Russians who have more icebreakers than the rest of the world combined, including nuclear-powered icebreakers. The Russian navy has its own icebreaker. Even the Americans are now realizing that their part of the Arctic is seeing increased maritime traffic and that they are ill prepared with only one operational icebreaker.

The IMO has developed the Polar Code for vessels operating in the polar regions which took effect January 1, 2017. This code is welcomed in that it establishes minimum requirements for vessels operating in our Canadian Arctic. Although the Polar Code could have more stringent requirements, it is a significant first step in the right direction. The question is: who will monitor such standards and enforce the Polar Code in the Canadian Arctic?

On several occasions I saw our Canadian Coast Guard vessels in their vivid red and white colors displaying our maple leaf. In addition to our Inuit communities in the Arctic, they represent our best physical presence during the shipping season. In the not too distant future they will be accompanied by Canadian Forces Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessels, although the latter will not have a medium icebreaking capability.

One of the main functions of the Canadian Coast Guard has been to support the resupply of our northern communities. It has been said often that sovereignty presence starts with healthy Arctic communities. Their resupply is therefore an essential service.

Part of the reason for our lack of accuracy in predicting climate change in the Arctic is the limited amount of research that has been conducted there. The coast guard vessels have been an integral part of the scientific research conducted in the Arctic. That includes the research required to support our claims for extended continental shelves under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea’s Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

The Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers would also be instrumental in monitoring commercial fishing in the Arctic and the Arctic fishing moratorium that the Arctic Five (Russia, U.S., Canada, Denmark and Norway) wish to enforce until such time as there is sufficient science to understand what is sustainable.

Canada is also a signatory of the Arctic Council Agreement on Cooperation on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue in the Arctic. Our Canadian Coast Guard vessels and their helicopters are key search and rescue assets in the Arctic. If our fleet is not replaced, how would we meet this international agreement?

Canada is also a signatory of the Arctic Council 2011 Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution and Response in the Arctic. Without a sizeable icebreaker fleet, how would we meet our obligations to monitor and respond to an incident?

As the ice is receding in the Arctic, human activity has been on the rise. Will our coast guard icebreakers be there when we need them?

This article originally appeared in The Hill Times and is reproduced with permission.

The opinions expressed herein are the author’s and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

Canadian government seeking to sell ex-coast guard ship TRACY for $250,000

Date: 17 Feb 2017
Source: Hill Times

The federal government is trying to sell a decades-old former Coast Guard ship for as little as $250,000 despite spending $9-million on major repairs to the vessel only eight years ago.

The multi-tasked vessel, known as Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) TRACY while in service, is listed on the government’s GCSurplus.ca website, where government-owned assets no longer deemed necessary are made available for purchase. The minimum price for the vessel, built in 1968, is $250,000. The closing date for bids is listed as March 1.
The sale comes after the former Conservative government awarded Quebec-based Verreault Navigation Inc. a $6.8-million contract in 2009 to conduct “major repairs” to the ship, then based in Quebec City. Richard Beaupré, the firm’s president and chief operations officer, said in an interview on Feb. 15 that the number was actually just over $9-million. Fisheries and Oceans Canada did not immediately confirm the $9-million price tag for the repairs.

The Coast Guard in 2009 expected that the repairs would keep the vessel in service for the following 10 years. But only four years later, the Coast Guard had removed the CCGS TRACY from service. Mr. Beaupré said he was “surprised” to see the vessel being shopped for so little considering the amount of money invested in repairs, though acknowledged that it wasn’t worth significantly more than the $250,000 price tag.
NDP MP and procurement critic Erin Weir (Regina-Lewvan, Sask.) told The Hill Times that he would ask the House Government Operations and Estimates Committee to investigate the prospective sale, saying it raises “very serious questions” about government decision-making.

Proper planning, he said, would have seen the ship sold in 2009 prior to repairs or it would “have been refurbished in such a way that it would be in service now.”
Frank Stanek, a spokesperson for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, which the Canadian Coast Guard falls under, said in a statement that the minimum bid price for the ship was the result of an independent appraisal that valued it at $250,000. The 2009 repairs were necessary to “stop further deterioration” of existing equipment, modernize its systems, and “extend vessel life to meet regulatory and operational requirements,” he said, noting the final price tag also included “significant” unrecoverable labor costs.
The decision to sell off the vessel comes as the Coast Guard grapples with a problem-plagued program to replace its aging fleet of ships.
According to the GCSurplus website, the CCGS TRACY was removed from active service in 2013, and is currently resting at the dock of the Coast Guard base in Prescott, Ont., located some 90 kilometres from Ottawa, along the St. Lawrence River. The ship is described on the Coast Guard website as a “buoytender,” a vessel responsible for maintaining and replacing buoys, which are navigational floating devices.
In addition to its age, capability, and condition, Mr. Stanek said the decision to remove the ship from service in the winter of 2012 resulted from a government initiative that reduced the Canadian Coast Guard’s workload in servicing certain types of navigational aids.
Mr. Stanek agreed the Coast Guard is in need of more ships. But the needed ships are “modern, multi-taskable ships,” and the CCGS Tracy “is a buoytender and did not meet these criteria. An investment in an aging vessel with limited capabilities is not sustainable or desirable and does not support the multi-taskable nature of the fleet needed to deliver our mandate.”

hilltimes.com

 

Coast Guard Breaking Ice Near Lewisporte This Week

Date: 6 Feb 2017
Source: http://vocm.com/news/coast-guard-breaking-ice-near-lewisporte-this-week/

The Canadian Coast Guard is warning people of icebreaking happening around Lewisporte Harbour this week.

The CCGS Henry Larson is breaking ice around the harbour until Wednesday, and will leave a wide open track in the fast ice in Lewisporte Run.

The Coast Guard says it does not have absolute control on the ice and, depending on the conditions, the ice can be pushed instead of broken and can crack far away from where the icebreaker is working.

All hands on deck: Tories push for extra navy and coast guard shipbuilding help

Source: http://www.torontosun.com/2016/06/12/all-hands-on-deck-tories-push-for-extra-navy-and-coast-guard-shipbuilding-help
Date: 12 June 2016

OTTAWA – Just months out of power, the opposition Conservatives are pushing the governing Liberals to speed up the construction of urgently needed Navy and coast guard ships.

The charge is being led by former Conservative cabinet minister Steven Blaney who just happens to have a major shipyard in his riding of Levis, Que., that, he says, has excess shipbuilding capacity that ought to be tapped by the federal government.

Blaney and other MPs on a key House of Commons committee that oversees government operations got an update Thursday on the six-year-old multi-billion dollar national shipbuilding strategy that is still a year away – at least — from producing its first new coast guard ship, and three years away — at least — from its first Navy ship.

“I hear more talks, more costs, more bureaucrats — but not more ships,” Blaney said at a recent committee meeting.

One project, to build new science vessels for the coast guard, is already 13 weeks behind on a 93-week construction schedule.

Some Liberals appear to be sensitive to Blaney’s complaints.

Liberal MP Francis Drouin acknowledged the gridlock can be partly blamed on the battle between the “customization culture” of Navy admirals and the “buy off-the-shelf culture” of the land-locked accountants and bureaucrats who actually sign off on plans to buy stuff for our Armed Forces.

As a result, when Canada wanted to start building ships after not doing so for more than 30 years, one of the big challenges was re-tooling Canadian shipyards, re-fitting their facilities and upgrading their workforces — trying to apply off-the-shelf materials and methods as much as possible while building in some of the custom requirements unique to Canada’s requirements.

That extra complexity has already resulted in some delays and in millions more being spent on engineering studies and consultants.

Three Canadian shipyards — Irving in Halifax, Davie in Levis, Que., and Seaspan in North Vancouver — qualified to bid on the first wave of shipbuilding contracts. The Irving yard in Halifax won the contract to build new Navy ships, while Seaspan won the work for the coast guard ships and one Navy ship. Davie was shut out.

But now Davie has some excess capacity and some partly built ships it hopes it can sell, at a discount, to the coast guard.

“They should consider the non-solicited proposals from (Davie). We have over-capacity,” Blaney said, noting that it would not affect the contracts going to the yards in Vancouver or in Halifax. “But we have an emergency. We need to increase the shipbuilding capacity.”

A study done for Transport Canada and tabled in the House of Commons in April warned that the coast guard fleet in particular “urgently requires renewal.”

The National Shipbuilding Strategy

In 2010, the government of Stephen Harper started the national shipbuilding strategy to replenish the fleets of both the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Coast Guard. Two shipyards won the bids to build those ships.

At the Halifax shipyard:

Navy Arctic Patrol Ships – Six to be built at at a cost of about $2.3 billion. First vessel expected to be delivered by 2018.

Navy Surface Combatants – Up to 15 new ships which will replace our aging destroyers and frigates. Will cost billions but the budget is under review. Won’t even start building these until 2021.

At the North Vancouver shipyard:

Coast Guard Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels – Three to be built at a cost of $466 million. First vessel to be delivered in 2017.

Coast Guard Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel – One of these to be built. Budget under review. To be delivered 2018 or later.

Navy Joint Support Ships – Two of these to be built. Budget under review. First ship to be delivered in 2020.

Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker – One of these to be built. Budget under review. Expecting delivery by 2021.

THE NATIONAL SHIPBUILDING STRATEGY

In 2010, the government of Stephen Harper started the national shipbuilding strategy to replenish the fleets of both the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Coast Guard. Two shipyards won the bids to build those ships.

At the Halifax Shipyard Navy Arctic Patrol Ships: Six to be built at at a cost of about $2.3 billion. First

vessel expected to be delivered by 2018. Navy Surface Combatants: Up to 15 new ships which will replace our aging destroyers and frigates. Will cost billions but the budget is under review. Won’t even start building these until 2021. At the North Vancouver shipyArd Coast Guard Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels: Three to be built at a cost of $466 million. First vessel to be delivered in 2017.

Coast Guard Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel: One of these to be built. Budget under review. To be delivered 2018 or later. Navy Joint Support Ships: Two of these to be built. Budget under review. First ship to be delivered in 2020. Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker: One of these to be built. Budget under review. Expecting delivery by 2021.

Irving Shipbuilding to fund $2M for research in Nunavut

Source: Times & Transcript (Moncton)

Date: 2016.06.10

BYLINE: Fiona Anderson

Irving Shipbuilding Inc. is giving up to $2 million to the Nunavut Arctic College (NAC) to help fund research projects that will increase the involvement of locals in research, enhance marine safety and improve responses to marine incidents.

In Nunavut a lot of outsiders come up to do research, said NAC’s Amanda Kilabuk.

“What we’d like is for the community to have the capacity to be partners, to build the capacity within the communities,” Kilabuk said. “Because we find it’s a lot of outside coming in, so we’d like to enhance or increase internal community capacity.” That’s one objective listed in the request for proposals put out by the National Research Institute, NAC’s science arm responsible for administering scientific research licensing in Nunavut.

The other two objectives are to develop practical solutions to enhance marine safety and to develop tools and technologies to respond to marine incidents. According to the RFP those objectives include supporting new approaches to the safety and security of workers and hunters in the marine environment, developing tools to respond to marine accidents and hazards and building knowledge on spill response readiness.

“We have a vast amount of coastline in Nunavut,” Kilabuk said. “And as you know, there is increased interest in the North, whether it’s the coastlines, or the ice or the water. And we’re very remote.”

“So we would like more initiatives to … respond to marine incidents,” she said.

It is the first time Irving Shipbuilding has worked with the NAC or its research and licensing arm.

Irving Shipbuilding’s commitment is part of its obligations under Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy which requires Irving Shipbuilding to spend 0.5 per cent of revenues from its Arctic Offshore Patrol vessel contract on projects aimed at creating a sustainable marine industry across Canada, the company said in a press release.

Under the AOP contract, Irving Shipbuilding is to build five vessels for $3.5 billion with a possibility of a sixth vessel being added. The AOP contract is part of a larger contract in which Irving Shipbuilding’s Halifax shipyard was awarded contracts worth $25 billion to build the AOPs plus up to 15 vessels to replace the Iroquois and Halifax−class warships.

Irving Shipbuilding said it was pleased to support this call for research proposals. “Projects like these help to ensure Canada has a developed and vibrant marine research industry, particularly in the Arctic,” Kevin McCoy, president of Irving Shipbuilding said in the release.

Requests for proposals are due by August 11. The successful projects are expected to be announced in the fall. Irving Shipbuilding Inc. is part of the J.D. Irving, Limited Group of companies.

J.D. Irving, Limited is a privately owned company headquartered in Saint John. Its activities include forestry, paper products, agriculture, food processing, transportation and shipbuilding. Brunswick News newspapers are published by Brunswick News, Inc., a separate company.

New Great Lakes Icebreaker Nearing Reality

Date: 7 June 2016
Source: http://www.maritimeprofessional.com/news/great-lakes-icebreaker-nearing-reality-290736

Plans for a second heavy icebreaker for service on the Great Lakes have taken another step toward reality with Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) including $2 million for initial survey and design work for a vessel that is at least as capable as the current icebreaker Mackinaw in the committee report on the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill.

The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015 had previously authorized a new heavy icebreaker for Lakes service. Senator Baldwin’s provision would provide the first funds specifically targeted toward acquisition of a second heavy icebreaker to partner with the cutter Mackinaw commissioned in 2006.

“We applaud Senator Baldwin for her ongoing efforts to enhance the Coast Guard’s icebreaking capacity on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway,” said Thomas Curelli, President of Great Lakes Maritime Task Force (GLMTF), the largest labor/management coalition ever assembled to promote waterborne commerce on the Fourth Seacoast. “The winters of 2014 and 2015 were so severe that jobs and business revenue lost totaled 5,800 and $1.1 billion respectively,” noted Curelli, who is also Vice President of Engineering for Fraser Shipyards.

“I am proud to partner with the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force and its members on this critically important effort,” said Senator Baldwin. “It is an honor to fight for investments that keep our Great Lakes economy open for business all year round so maritime commerce and workers can move American goods to market.”

Cargo movement during the ice season is crucial to meeting the needs of commerce. Ice can begin forming in early December and linger well into April, on occasion, into May. The cargos that move during those months can top 20 million tons, or 15-plus percent of the Lakes/Seaway’s annual total.

Iron ore for steel production and coal for power generation are the primary cargos shipped during the ice season, but limestone, salt, cement, grain, general cargo and liquid-bulk products move as well.

“The cargos that move on the Great Lakes and Seaway are the backbone of the U.S. economy,” said Brian D. Krus, 1st Vice President of GLMTF and Senior National Assistance Vice President of American Maritime Officers. “It is estimated that Lakes/Seaway shipping supports 227,000 jobs in the eight Great Lakes states and Ontario and Quebec. It is imperative that both the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards have adequate icebreaking resources stationed on the Great Lakes.”

The U.S. Coast Guard has nine icebreakers assigned to the Great Lakes, but one is undergoing modernization at the Coast Guard yard in Baltimore. When it is ready, it will return to the Great Lakes and another vessel of its class will undergo service life extension until all of the six 140-foot-long icebreaking tugs have been modernized.

Canada has two icebreakers permanently stationed on the Lakes and brings in other assets when required.

“We cannot let the mild winter of 2015/2016 lull us into a false sense of security,” said James H.I. Weakley, 2nd Vice President of GLMTF and President of Lake Carriers’ Association. “Just 16 months ago a U.S.-flag laker with an ice-strengthened bow and 7,000 horsepower engine sat immobile within sight of land for 5 days. The Coast Guard icebreaker dispatched to the scene was unable to free the vessel and its last cargo had to be cancelled. The U.S. Coast Guard must have two heavy icebreakers in order to reliably meet the needs of commerce.”

John D. Baker, 3rd Vice President of GLMTF and President Emeritus of the ILA’s Great Lakes District Council, stressed icebreaking is critical to the St. Lawrence Seaway, even though it is closed from around January 1 to late March. “Operators of oceangoing vessels cannot risk being trapped on the Great Lakes over a winter or suffering ice damage, so will exit the system sooner than necessary or delay their first cargos of the spring if they are concerned about icebreaking resources. Inadequate icebreaking resources can effectively shorten the Seaway’s season. Again, we thank Senator Baldwin and all the Great Lakes delegation for their commitment to keeping Great Lakes and Seaway shipping safe and efficient during the ice season.”

Raytheon Anschütz gains Canadian Coast Guard bridge orders

Date: 27 May 2016
Source: http://www.marinemec.com/news/view,raytheon-anschtz-gains-canadian-coast-guard-bridge-orders_43112.htm

Raytheon Anschütz has won a contract from Thales to supply integrated bridges to Canadian Coast Guard’s (CCG) new offshore fisheries science vessels (OFSV). Three new 63m vessels are being built for the CCG at Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards. Thales is the main system integrator for this project and ordered integrated navigation systems (INSs) from Raytheon Anschütz.

This order involves a Canadian version of the Synapsis intelligent bridge control system that includes the Synapsis INS. This features five Synapsis NX multifunctional workstations for radar, ecdis and conning for the main bridge console. Further multifunctional workstations are supplied for installation at the bridge wings, for the aft fishing and starboard stations, and as a chart station.

The workstations are based on compact and powerful small marine computers, which serve as the standard hardware platform for all bridge applications. All workstations receive and share data through the Ethernet network, where sensor integration is simplified with the versatile NautoPlex data collectors.

The navigation system is fitted with the advanced NP 5400 autopilot system with customised algorithms for precise cruising and trawling operations, and low speed side operations. It has a redundant gyro compass with maintenance-free Horizon MF sensors, and the new generation of NautoScan NX network radar transceivers.

Raytheon Anschütz, in co-operation with their long-term service partner Imtech Radio Holland Canada, will provide training to Thales in Canada and Vancouver Shipyards, and ongoing technical support during factory acceptance tests.

Canada to streamline its navy and coast guard ship procurement strategy

Date: 26 May 2016
Source: http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2016/05/26/canada-to-streamline-its-navy-and-coast-guard-ship-procurement-strategy/

Ottawa has unveiled a series of measures designed to enhance the government’s ability to modernize and oversee its cumbersome military procurement process while it tries to rebuild its once mighty shipbuilding industry.

Minister of Public Services and Procurement Judy Foote announced the new measures during a lunch-time keynote address on Thursday to participants of CANSEC 2016, a major defence and security industry trade show organized by the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) in Ottawa.

“The National Shipbuilding Strategy is good for Canada, but it needs to be improved,” Foote told the audience of defence industry representatives and members of the military.

These improvements will be based on the lessons learned over the last five years since the strategy was launched by the previous Conservative government, Foote said.

“First we need to rebuild the expertise and oversight gap that arose over the decades in which Canada was largely out of the shipbuilding business,” Foot said. “Decision making has been largely ineffective because of years of inactivity in the shipbuilding industry, and more expert advice was needed to guide decision-makers.”

Canadian Forces member Pte. Jean-Christophe Sherrer tries out an F35 Lightning ll flight demonstrator at the CANSEC 2016 expo, Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand © PC/FRED CHARTRAND

Increased internal capacity

The government has already hired Steve Brunton, a retired Rear Admiral from the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy, to assist with the implementation and management of the strategy, Foote said.

Her department plans to double and maybe even triple the staff in its shipbuilding unit, as well as train more personnel to manage the various aspects of the shipbuilding strategy.

“Not only were Government shipbuilding teams too small, they also lacked sufficient expertise to deliver on such a complex, long-term endeavor,” Foote said.

More accurate planning

The third area the government plans to improve is budgeting, she said.

“It makes no sense to establish a budget today for a project that will not start for years, even a decade,” Foote said.

The past practice of setting budgets with preliminary figures that were never updated to reflect refinements in requirements and plans, inflation, and changes in exchange rates and material costs, were the main reason why “projects appeared to be vastly over-budget when actual contracts were signed,” she said.

For this reason the government will not be announcing a new cost estimate for the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) program until it has signed a build contract, Foote said. The CSC project will renew the Royal Canadian Navy surface combat fleet by replacing its older Iroquois-class destroyers and the Halifax-class multi-role patrol frigates, the government said.

It is the largest and most complex shipbuilding initiative in Canada since World War II, according to the Department of National Defence.

“Economic conditions change, requirements and technologies evolve, and the government must be agile enough to review its financial commitments,” she said.

Detailed monitoring and increased transparency

The government also plans to implement measures to track the performance of the shipyards and improve communication about the strategy’s successes and challenges, Foote said.

“Canadians deserve to know how their money is being invested and the impact it is having on our Navy and Coast Guard and our country’s economy,” Foot said.

The total value of contracts awarded to date for large vessels under the National Shipbuilding Strategy will contribute nearly $4.4 billion of gross domestic product and create or maintain up to 5,500 jobs per year between 2012 and 2022, she said.

The construction of ships for the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Coast Guard is already underway. Canada’s first Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessel is being built at Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax, and the second one is scheduled for later this year.

Construction has started on the first two of three Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels at Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards, she said.

Thales to Supply Electronic Systems for Three Canadian Coast Guard OFSV Vessels

Date: ND
Source: http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4030

On March 24th, Thales in Canada signed a $35M (CAD) contract with Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards (VSY), regarding the electronic systems for the construction of the Canadian Coast Guard’s (CCG) three Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels (OFSV) under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS). Seaspan recently announced the start of production on the second OFSV. In the meantime, significant progress continues on the first OFSV with 37 of 37 blocks currently under construction.

OFSV Rendering. Picture: Thales

This is an important step that shows Thales’ commitmentto NSS and continued success in developing maritime business in Canada. Thales in Canada has been under contract for the initial phases of the OFSV project since 2013 and is also under contract with Seaspan for initial phases of the Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel (OOSV) for the CCG and the Joint Support Ships (JSS) for the Royal Canadian Navy. As a Tier 1 partner of VSY, Thales is responsible for the selection, procurement and integration of the electronic systems and equipment on the vessels being constructed, including radar, communications, bridge and mission systems

OFSV Integrated Bridge Consoles. Picture: Thales

“Seaspan is full-steam ahead on the production and delivery of its first two National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) Non-Combat vessels, and we are pleased and excited to partner with Thales’ world-class team of experts,” said Brian Carter, President – Seaspan Shipyards. “Today’s announcement is not only a strong reminder of the progress being made under the NSS, but also of the imp act it is having, continuing to increase opportunities for Canadian companies and creating jobs for Canadians.” The steady stream of stable revenue that this project is providing has allowed Thales to invest in research and development to increase the efficacy of the systems that it installs and integrates onto CCG and RCN vessels. Thales in Canada officially opened a new maritime lab in its Ottawa offices in December 2015, in the presence of Pierre Eric Pommellet, EVP Defence Mission Systems. This systemsintegration and test facility will support the integration of electronic systems for the Canadian Coast Guard vessels. This infrastructure is a key capability for the Thales NSS work, but can also be leveraged in future projects making Thales more competitive, both within Canada and internationally.