Canada faces tough choice as naval resupply ships, icebreaker on collision course

Canada.Com ^ | MAY 7, 2013 | LEE BERTHIAUME

[golux]

Thank you!

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

According to shipbuildinghistory.com, we have 3 active shipbuilders and 12 active boatbuilders. St. John's Shipbuilding, which often got Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) contracts, was bought by the Irvings, closed in 2003 and stripped, so it would be difficult to re-start. There is no way that the Canadian government would contract a foreign shipbuilder, except during all out war, like WWII; that would be political suicide! Given that there are only six 'active' shjpbuilders in the US, let us hope we never face 'all out' war.

Halifax Shipyard, owned by the Irvings, has six 253 gross tonnage Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) patrol vessels to be completed before the end of 2014, so they may be unable to start new work. In addition, staffing might be a problem, as there are many Maritmers working in the trades in the Athabasca oil sands, particularly welders and draftsmen, so expansion might be difficult.

Chantier Davie Canada Inc. (Davie shipbuilding), of Levis, Quebec, with the largest drydock in Canada (1,148 ft), is likely not to be considered. Its JV, formed to bid on the 'National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy', building ships for the CCG, RCN and the Departmewnt of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), failed to win the bid so the partners pulled out of the JV. It would not make sense now, for Davie to bid now on the supply ships, without partners with deep pockets. Also, though support for separation in Quebec is low, given that the Quebec government is separatist, there is less chance of Davie getting a 'rush' contract from the Feds for any major ships.

That leaves Vancouver Shipyards, where the scheduling is the problem. They have lots of experience with larger ships like ferries, both ships and people (after all, it is the west coast!), but the scheduling of both the CCG icebreaker and replacements for HMCS Protecteur and HMCS Provider is the problem.

What would not surprise me would be if all three ships were laid down in Vancouver, with the first two, hulls only being completed and launched and then towed through the Panama Canal, one going to Halifax and one to Davie in Quebec, for completion of decks and powerplants. The third ship would be completed in Vancouver. It would cost a lot to do this, but governments are all about spending OUR money and winning elections, rather than being prudent guardians of the nation's wealth, even if they are called 'conservative'.