Government Strikes $288-million Deal to Design Arctic Patrol Ships

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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The plan of Canadian government to boost up the navy’s fleet was taken a step ahead to the drawing board on Thursday, as it officially signed a contract to design the next generation of Arctic offshore patrol ships. The deal was finalized with Irving Shipbuilding of Halifax and is estimated to be worth approx. $288-million, dividing the design work in to seven different phases including engineering and project management.

The Public Works Minister, Rona Ambrose, mentioned that the work will assess capability, affordability and risk of constructing the ships, that are aimed to begin production in 2015. She mentioned in a news conference from Halifax, that “the important part of this is to make sure we get the design right and at that time we will have substantive costs.” It was not confirmed by Ambrose or Defence Minister, Peter MacKay, about how many Arctic offshore patrol ships are going to built through the project. However, at a previous occasion, the federal government has pledged to build between six and eight vessels.

MacKay stated that the government intends to build “as many ships as possible” under the funding available. He stated that “this is a new capability, so if we only had one more ship that would be one more than we have right now when it comes to our ability to provide this type of offshore capability and Arctic coverage.” The vice chairman of Irving Shipbuilding, Ross Langley, alleged that the design phase is targeted to complete in 30 months and employ up to 200 workers at the company’s Halifax shipyard.