New Canadian Shipbuilding Strategy

[suffolkowner]

So they are going to build one icebreaker? I will take bets right now it will be over a 2 billion dollars.

Will they even be using the same design?

its already known its over $2B the polar icebreaker is supposed to be one design plus 6 medium icebreakers

Will be interesting to see if they require them to do similar facility upgrades, but should really be customized for the expected build package. If they are building just icebreakers the previous plan for the CG ships, JSS and Polar from 2010 may no longer make as much sense.

That's still the easy bit; there is a lot of process improvements to QC, design, planning etc to be done, and that's actually much more of a long term item than some new buildings and production lines.

What have they been doing the last year or two to get ready? How hard does Davie really need to work to meet the standards of Irving or Seaspan or even BAE in Glasgow?

Spending money to get things built faster. We're just driving towards two yards being out of work sooner instead of one in the longer term.

3 yards 90 ships 30 years, repeat?

 

[dapaterson]

VAC spending fits within the NATO definition as well.

 

[Navy_Pete]

What have they been doing the last year or two to get ready? How hard does Davie really need to work to meet the standards of Irving or Seaspan or even BAE in Glasgow?

A lot. Irving and Seaspan both invested several hundred million dollars in infrastructure upgrades and have spent however many years doing the process improvements and building expertise. You can only build expertise in ship building by building ships. Asterix was an overhaul, and the fabrication portion of the new superstructure was done overseas. With the normal IRB/VP rules for 100% Canadian content (which didn't apply to Asterix) that route would need a whack of offsets.

Davie will also need to do shipyard upgrades to be able to do modular shipbuilding better, but there is an entire design/planning/QC aspect that is miles beyond what they've ever had to do to date.

If Davie comes under the NSS umbrella and is required to meet the same standards as ISI and Seaspan I think it will be a pretty humbling experience. The mythos of Davie's expertise is more due to their PR skills then reality, they have the same issues as everyone else. Generally that means some good work, some bad work that needs redone, and the rest is good enough for the standard. I'm sure they will run into the same delays and price overruns as everyone else has.

 

[dapaterson]

ISI has standards?

 

[MarkOttawa]

Anyone surprised? Storied Coast Guard ship can’t be fixed, shipyard says, highlighting yet again, Canada’s shipbuilding problem | Globalnews.ca

Bonne flipping chance with that 2025 date. "Acquisition malpractice" a colossal understatement:

Canada looks to charter research vessel as it awaits $1B replacement ship​

CCGS Hudson was retired this year after catastrophic motor failure​

...
Construction of a new offshore oceanographic science vessel for the East Coast has started at the Seaspan shipyard in Vancouver. It is currently estimated to cost $995 million [for 5,000t ship Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel - Seaspan]...

Delivery is now expected in 2025...

Seaspan declined to provide an estimated delivery date for the offshore oceanographic science ship...

Gosh. Wonder why.

...It was originally expected to cost $109 million with delivery in 2017...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/canada-looks-for-3-to-5-year-research-vessel-charter-1.6480413

FUBAR.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Shocking that a 59 year ship suddenly divests itself. We are so good at own goals

 

[suffolkowner]

Canadian Coast Guard Looks to Charter Interim Research Vessel

The Canadian Coast Guard has begun a search for a temporary replacement for its now retired research...

www.maritime-executive.com

Yes completely unexpected

also my favorite icebreaker Aiviq might finally be going back to work after a test run in Australia

"Canada is not alone in seeking charters to bridge delays in its shipbuilding program. Last month, the U.S. Coast Guard also released a request for information seeking to identify U.S.-built commercial icebreakers that might be available for purchase."

US Coast Guard proposes purchase of existing icebreaker as Arctic 'bridging strategy' - ArcticToday

The Biden administration is requesting $125 million in its 2023 budget to purchase an existing privately owned U.S. icebreaker. The funds would cover the estimated cost of buying a “commercially available” icebreaker, including initial modifications, U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson Richard Kolko...

www.arctictoday.com

"The Biden administration is requesting $125 million in its 2023 budget to purchase an existing privately owned U.S. icebreaker."

https://govtribe.com/opportunity/federal-contract-opportunity/commercial-icebreaker-70z02322icicc2200

 

[Good2Golf]

Interestingly, the USN still uses ALCO 251 engines and you can buy a new 251F-16V from the owners of the ALCO legacy products.

FM 251F

FM | ALCO 251F, ALCO, ALCO Engine

www.fairbanksmorse.com

 

[OceanBonfire]

Chantier Davie completed CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent's 1/3 series of work ahead of schedule:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1542600590915690497