The federal government has awarded the Vancouver Shipyards a $3.3-billion contract to build 10 new Coast Guard vessels.
Photograph by: Handout/Fisheries and Oceans Canada , Postmedia News
OTTAWA — An auditor general’s report next week that the federal government’s national shipbuilding strategy will cost billions more than budgeted to buy new navy and coast guard ships is likely to prompt calls to revisit or scrap the whole plan.
What many may not realize, however, is the clock is already ticking on the country’s naval and coast guard fleets — with things about to get a whole lot worse before they get better. That means there’s little room for second-guessing and further delays.
Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment Vessels
A fancy name for the Royal Canadian Navy’s two 45-year-old resupply ships, HMCS Protecteur and HMCS Preserver. They are the navy’s largest vessels and have been deployed on numerous missions, including the first Gulf War, East Timor, and in support of operations in Afghanistan after 9/11. They carry fuel, food, ammunition and spare parts to support missions at sea and on land. They also hold three helicopters and have advanced medical and dental facilities.
Many of the ships’ systems are nearly obsolete, while repairs and maintenance costs are prohibitively expensive thanks in part to a shortage of spare parts. The vessels’ design does not meet many international environmental standards, which means they are barred from entering ports in the United States and Europe.
They were supposed to have been replaced by new joint support ships in 2012, but budget problems and delays have pushed the timeline for delivery of the first joint support ship to 2019 at the earliest. As a result, the Protecteur and Preserver have had to remain in service even longer. They have undergone refits and extended-life maintenance. Even then, they will be retired in 2017, meaning Canada will be forced to rely on its allies for resupply capabilities for at least two years.
Iroquois-class Destroyers
Built in the early 1970s to protect against Soviet submarines, they underwent a major upgrade in the 1990s so they could provide anti-aircraft defence as well as command-and-control capabilities for Canadian and allied naval task forces. They have been deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Desert Storm, the Indian Ocean after 9/11, and to Haiti following the January 2010 earthquake. Four were originally built, but only three remain.
The Iroquois-class destroyers are scheduled for replacement in the mid-2020s, if all goes according to plan. However, officials have previously indicated that the 40-year-old ships will have reached the end of their expected lifespan in 2017, and that they will not be replaced before retirement. That decision could be reversed, but extended and costly maintenance will likely be required. The navy’s 12 Halifax-class frigates can pick up some of the slack, but not having the destroyers will still limit the types of operations the navy can undertake.
Halifax-class Frigates
The Royal Canadian Navy’s workhorse. Built in the early 1990s, they carry a helicopter as well as weaponry to engage targets in the air and on the surface. They have been deployed on countless missions, including in support of the Persian Gulf war, Afghanistan, drug interdiction operations in the Caribbean, and counter-terrorism patrols in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean. There are 12 of them.
The frigates have recently been modernized with new weaponry, sensors and other equipment to keep them in service until 2030. They are due to be replaced at the same time as the Iroquois-class destroyers in the mid-2020s, if all goes according to plan. The project to replace them is the most expensive — and complex — part of the national shipbuilding plan.
CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent
The Canadian Coast Guard’s largest icebreaker as well as its flagship. Launched in 1966, its main tasks are to escort vessels through the Arctic and support scientific research in Canada’s Far North.
The St-Laurent was to have been retired in 2000, but financial concerns delayed construction of a replacement and instead it underwent a refit that extended its life to 2017. The Conservative government announced a plan in 2007 to build a new heavy icebreaker, the CCGS John G. Diefenbaker, by 2017. However, the Diefenbaker now won’t be in the water until at least 2022. (Its budget was also recently increased from $720 million to $1.3 billion.) The St-Laurent is now expected to remain in operation until 2022, at which point it will be 56 years old.
lberthiaume@postmedia.com
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