New Canadian Shipbuilding Strategy

[jollyjacktar]

I'm hearing late fall (Dec) from some places (skuttlebutt).  But that might be the date she's turned over to the navy.  There are still builders/acceptance trials in the timeline somewhere.  Subcontractor delivery issue and the fact the bow was 60mm too wide has caused some delays.

On the plus side the same skuttlebutt says that AOPS #2 is relatively on schedule.

My son is on that build.  He says September.

 

[Cloud Cover]

He’s got to be proud working on that big bugger! I  hope he has a long , fulfilling and enjoyabel career!

 

[jollyjacktar]

He’s got to be proud working on that big bugger! I  hope he has a long , fulfilling and enjoyabel career!

Me too, as l hope to join him in a couple of months.

 

[Czech_pivo]

Just saw this come across the wire on CBC
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/davie-coast-guard-icebreakers-canada-vicefield-byers-gagnon-1.4730332

 

[Kirkhill]

Just saw this come across the wire on CBC
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/davie-coast-guard-icebreakers-canada-vicefield-byers-gagnon-1.4730332

Interesting

Davie aims to replace Canadian Coast Guard's entire icebreaker fleet ...
https://www.cbc.ca/.../canada/.../davie-coast-guard-icebreakers-canada-vicefield-byers...
3 hours ago - Chantier Davie Canada Inc., the country's largest shipbuilding firm, is gunning for contracts to build new icebreakers for the Canadian Coast ...

  3 hours prior to 20:17 MST.

But article not available at 20:17 MST.  404.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

CBC doesn't like me anymore, because both of these link tell me the story I seek doesn't exist.


I guess that's what I get for regularly writing to tell them to check their facts.  ;D

 

[Czech_pivo]

Well I’ll be.....the article was there previously.  I guess they pulled the story for some reason, maybe someone got cold feet.

 

[Stoker]

Interesting
  3 hours prior to 20:17 MST.

But article not available at 20:17 MST.  404.

It was probably a story cooked up by Davie or Federal Fleet, its something that they would say......

 

[serger989]

Well I’ll be.....the article was there previously.  I guess they pulled the story for some reason, maybe someone got cold feet.

I have the article open in a cached version, haven't read it yet. If you open it that way it will work if you stop the browser from refreshing.

Edit: This gist of it was Davie praise but mainly that the 3 Viking icebreakers were selected, the AIVIQ was not, work will begin this summer. I was hoping Canada would pick up the AIVIQ too.

 

[Uzlu]

Davie aims to replace Canadian Coast Guard's entire icebreaker fleet

Shipbuilding firm will start work on icebreaker conversion this summer

Chantier Davie Canada Inc., the country's largest shipbuilding firm, is gunning for contracts to build new icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard.

"Given the age of the Canadian Coast Guard fleet, the entire icebreaker fleet will need to be replaced in the near future," says Alex Vicefield, CEO of Inocea Group, which has owned Davie since 2012.

"We have every intention of submitting a world-class proposal together with global leaders in icebreaker design."

Until then, Davie, located across the river from Quebec City in Lévis, is in the home stretch of negotiations with the federal government to convert three surplus commercial icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard.

Under its new management, Davie has made its mark in the industry by turning surplus ships into lower-cost solutions.

The first converted icebreaker will be ready in time for the 2018-2019 ice season on the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes.

However, when it comes to building new ships, there remain doubts about Davie's ability to deliver at a competitive cost.

Marc Gagnon is director, government affairs and regulatory compliance for the Montreal-based Fednav, which operates a fleet of nearly 100 ships.

Fednav buys its ships in Japan because, Gagnon says, Canadian-built ships cost "at least twice as much."

"Davie no longer has the capacity to build an icebreaker or a frigate," Gagnon said. "To do so, they would have to re-equip their shipyard."

Vicefield said Davie is aware of the challenges ahead and has invested $60 million to upgrade its steel-cutting and IT infrastructure.

The University of British Columbia's Michael Byers, who argues that Ottawa's current shipbuilding strategy is too costly and needlessly slow, says building government ships in Canada makes sense and Davie is definitely up to the task.

"For every $100 million that is spent on building a ship in Canada, you would get several times more than that in terms of knock-on economic activity," Byers said.

"And Davie is the logical place to do it. They have a very large shipyard. They have a very capable workforce. The labour costs are relatively low and it's an active shipyard."

Last year, before Ottawa agreed to sit down with Davie to discuss the icebreaker conversions, Davie delivered the Asterix — a container ship converted into a supply ship for the Royal Canadian Navy — on time and on budget.

​In 2015, when the navy's existing two supply ships were no longer seaworthy, Vicefield and his team proposed converting the Asterix to a naval supply ship for about $600 million.

"What they did with the Asterix was very impressive," Byers said. "There is no other shipyard in Canada that could have done that."

In comparison, Vancouver-based ​Seaspan was chosen to build two new navy supply ships for $2.6 billion. But the first new supply ship will only be ready in 2020.

"This is a cutthroat business and there is a lot of money involved and a lot of politics involved," Byers said.

"Davie has the capacity and the experience to build icebreakers, plus they have the lowest costs in terms of labour of any shipyard in the country," he said.

The Canadian Coast Guard has an aging fleet of 13 ice-breaking vessels and two hovercraft.

Canada's oldest and largest icebreaker, the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent, was commissioned in 1969.

It was to be replaced in 2017 by the CCGS John G. Diefenbaker.

But from the initial estimate of $720 million, the Diefenbaker is now expected to cost over $1.4 billion, with delivery in 2022.

To meet Ottawa's need for "interim icebreakers," Davie found four icebreakers built for oil and gas drilling off the coast of Alaska that were idled when oil prices fell, putting an end of Shell's Arctic venture.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to negotiations with Davie to acquire the three smaller ice-breaking vessels, leaving aside the larger Aiviq.

With no other shipyard matching Davie's proposal, the conversion work will begin this summer.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/davie-coast-guard-icebreakers-canada-vicefield-byers-gagnon-1.4730332

 

[Czech_pivo]

Thanks for posting the article. Some majorly incorrect dates for the JSS delivery - off by 3yrs min - and for the new Def, at least 6yrs off on that. Crap analysis and research being done.

 

[MarkOttawa]

Meanwhile big Canadian shipping company Fednav (quoted in CBC story above) buys icebreaking bulk barriers in Japan, much cheaper than build-in-Canada:

...
Montreal-based Fednav has ordered a new icebreaking bulk carrier in Japan to sustain the year-round transportation requirements of Glencore’s Raglan nickel mine in northern Quebec, writes David Tinsley.

The 31,000dwt vessel has been contracted through trading house Sumitomo Corporation and will be built by Japan Marine United Corporation (JMU) at the Yokohama shipyard. The template for the project will be provided by Fednav’s 31,750dwt Nunavik, claimed to be the world’s most powerful icebreaking bulker when commissioned in 2014 from JMU’s Tsu yard. Nunavik is in turn similar in design to the company’s 32,000dwt Umiak 1, delivered in 2006 by JMU predecessor Universal Shipbuilding. Both existing vessels support northern mining operations.

The newbuild will be of Polar Class 4 standard and, as with Umiak 1 and Nunavik [emphasis added], will offer a broader cargo carrying capability than that of a pure bulker. While ensuring a southbound flow of high quality nickel concentrates, she will also be used to transport a variety of supplies to the mining complex on northbound voyages, including equipment, machinery and dry and liquid consumables...

http://www.motorship.com/news101/ships-and-shipyards/icebreaking-bulker-for-canadian-arctic-mine

More on Fednav from 2014:

The Great Canadian National Shipbuilding Procurement Screw-Up (aka NSPS), Icebreaker Section, Part 2
https://cgai3ds.wordpress.com/2014/11/12/mark-collins-the-great-canadian-national-shipbuilding-procurement-screw-up-aka-nsps-icebreaker-section-part-2/

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Soviet Union had Finnish made icebreaking freighters coming to Vancouver regularly, nice looking ships https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SA-15_(ship)

 

[MarkOttawa]

More earlier on the three commercial icebreakers Davie to convert for CCG, built in Norway 2000:

Canada taps Davie for three AHTS-conversion medium icebreakers
...
These ships would provide interim capability for the Canadian Coast Guard, while replacement vessels are being built under the National Shipbuilding Strategy [what? only one, Seaspan's Diefenbaker, currently planned]. Icebreakers are essential to ensuring that Canadian ports remain open during Canada's ice seasons, ensuring goods such as fresh produce and fuel are delivered safely...

These ships will be used to backfill for Canadian Coast Guard vessels while they are undergoing maintenance, refit and vessel life extension.

These ships will conduct critical icebreaking duties for the Southern wintertime program and are to be deployed as needed in support of Arctic summertime programs.

The first ship will be put to immediate use for icebreaking during the upcoming 2018-2019 season...

[Davie's] Project Resolute proposed using the same leasing model for four icebreakers, including a polar icebreaker. The candidate ship for that conversion was Edison Chouest Offshore's Aiviq.

Today's Canadian Government announcement, however, makes no mention of Federal Fleet Services or leasing, and focuses only on the three medium icebreakers offered under Project Resolute. The three candidate ships proposed by Project Resolute for this role are the Viking Supply Ships AB vessels Tor Viking II, Balder Viking and Vidar Viking.
https://www.marinelog.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=29600:canada-taps-davie-for-three-ahts-conversion-medium-icebreakers&Itemid=231

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Navy_Pete]

The Vidar Viking was in port in Bergen when we stopped in a few years ago; she's a good sized ship!

It sounds like we're buying these outright, and basically paying Davie to do some conversion work.  Good news for the CCG!

Doesn't sound like it will be ask extensive a conversion if it will keep around 200-400 people working. Aside from maybe switching the domestic power runs to 110/60 hz (vice 220V 50 hz), new paint scheme and possibly some kind of update on the electronics, guessing it might be more of an baseline refit ? 

 

[Swampbuggy]

The Vidar Viking was in port in Bergen when we stopped in a few years ago; she's a good sized ship!

It sounds like we're buying these outright, and basically paying Davie to do some conversion work.  Good news for the CCG!

Doesn't sound like it will be ask extensive a conversion if it will keep around 200-400 people working. Aside from maybe switching the domestic power runs to 110/60 hz (vice 220V 50 hz), new paint scheme and possibly some kind of update on the electronics, guessing it might be more of an baseline refit ?

I believe they’re adding a hanger and probably davits/crane for RHIB’s too.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

They are adding a flight deck, a hangar and, look at both pics carefully, an extra housing aft of the bridge  in the superstructure. This is likely to house extra personnel (CCG probably runs with more personnel that a civilian merchant ship) including scientists for summer Arctic deployments, lab space for same and extra shops, again for the same reason.

 

[Swampbuggy]

They are adding a flight deck, a hangar and, look at both pics carefully, an extra housing aft of the bridge  in the superstructure. This is likely to house extra personnel (CCG probably runs with more personnel that a civilian merchant ship) including scientists for summer Arctic deployments, lab space for same and extra shops, again for the same reason.

Interesting looking work boat, port side aft.  I wonder if that’s part of the package a la AOPS landing craft.

 

[Good2Golf]

Interesting looking work boat, port side aft.  I wonder if that’s part of the package a la AOPS landing craft.

Looks like a Metalcraft Interceptor 11M, made in Kingston, ON.

G2G

 

[Patski]

apparently, they will use one as is, this winter, while the other 2 are getting converted,  I guess they really need they urgently!