The federal government has finalized a contract with Irving Shipbuilding to build two additional Arctic and offshore patrol ships for the Canadian Coast Guard, the first of which is expected to be completed within four years.
Ottawa estimates the project will cost around $1.6 billion with the first ship arriving between 2026 and 2027.
Irving was first awarded the contract to build the two ships in 2019, but it was only recently finalized, according to
CBC News. The company previously won a Canadian government contract in 2011 to build six combat ships and 15 larger Canadian surface combatant ships.
“These vessels will be dedicated to a range of critical missions,” says a
federal government web page, citing North Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) patrols, and will “operate as the primary conservation and protection enforcement vessels on Canada’s east coast, replacing existing Coast Guard offshore patrol vessels.”
Ottawa also says the ships will be built with “ice capable functionality” that will allow the coast guard to expand its patrols into the low Arctic.
MPs on the House of Commons national defence committee
previously heard from a coast guard official that Canada’s Arctic seafaring resources are slim and in need of modernization.
Neil O’Rourke, the assistant commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard’s Arctic region headquarters, told the committee on Nov. 22 that there are 19 ships in the icebreaker fleet, but less than half of them are functional during the coldest months of the year
“Is that adequate to ensure the security of Canada?” asked Bloc Québécois MP Luc Desilets.
“For the time being, if we look at our Arctic fleet, we find that the ships that we currently have that are available—it’s adequate,” O’Rourke replied.
Auditor General
Auditor General Karen Hogan wrote in a November 2022 audit report that years of delay by the federal government in updating Canada’s Arctic ships have led to the majority of them being in desperate need of repair or modernization.“The federal organizations that are responsible for safety and security in the Arctic region do not have a full awareness of maritime activities in Arctic waters and are not ready to respond to increased surveillance requirements,” said the
audit report, published on Nov. 15, 2022.
She also said Arctic sea traffic has increased in recent years due to the area’s sea ice cover shrinking by about 40 percent over the past 50 years.
“More traffic just means more possibilities and more risk,” Hogan wrote.
She added that both the Coast Guard and Transport Canada risk losing their Arctic sea presences in the near future if swift investments are not made because their “aging icebreakers and patrol aircraft” will likely retire before replacement fleets can be launched.
“Our government agrees with the findings and recommendations in the report and will take steps to address them,” said Transport Minister Omar Alghabra on Nov. 15
in response to Hogan’s report.
“We are committed to working with our partners to address long-standing gaps in Arctic maritime domain awareness.”
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
