Canada’s shipbuilding strategy needs redraft that includes Davie

Canada has got some real problems.

In 2014, the country lost its last two refuelling supply ships, the HMCS Protecteur by fire, and HMCS Preserver as a result of corrosion. Consequently, for the last three years, the Royal Canadian Navy has been unable to effectively deploy a task force, and its ability to protect our shores has been limited.

This loss reduces mission options, curtails the radius of action for the navy’s warships and erodes skills.

Without resupply and refuelling capabilities, the navy is unable to do what the government needs it to do. This includes protecting our exports, preventing smuggling, providing humanitarian and disaster relief and supporting our allies.

What Canada needs is four supply ships — two on each coast. That would provide the necessary buffer for required maintenance, training and unforeseen accidents, so that at least one ship is always available on each coast.

Without our own refuellers, the only immediate relief was going cap in hand to other countries and renting. We managed 40 days on the Pacific (Chile) in 2015 and 40 days on the Atlantic (Spain) in 2016. For most of the last three years, the government’s ability to maintain operations offshore has been extremely limited.

Vancouver-based Seaspan is waiting for a contract to build two Joint Support Ships (JSS), but there are three issues: timing, costs and compliance.

Timing: On Nov. 7, 2017, Andy Smith, deputy commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard testified before a parliamentary committee that Seaspan would not finish their first four vessels for the Coast Guard until 2023, and only then will they start on the supply ships. This means the new refuellers will not join the fleet until 2026 and 2028.

Costs: The government has set aside $2.6 billion for the new supply ships, but there is no mechanism, like a fixed-price contract, to control spending. The Parliamentary Budget Office has indicated it is likely the costs will be as high as $4.13 billion if the two ships are to be built at Seaspan as planned.

Compliance: On top of all this, Seaspan is using a 26-year-old German design that does not meet NATO interoperability standards.

In 2015, the government accepted a proposal from the Davie shipyard in Quebec to provide Canada with a supply ship, the MV Asterix, that meets all of the requirements of the government, the navy and NATO.

The government has opted to lease the ship for five years at a cost of $650 million, including operating costs, rather than purchase it outright for $659 million.

Since the establishment of the National Shipbuilding Strategy, Davie is the first shipyard in Canada to deliver a vessel to the navy on time and on budget.