Polar Icebreaker Project Explained

The Polar Icebreaker Project (previously Polar Class Icebreaker Project) is an ongoing Canadian shipbuilding program under the National Shipbuilding Strategy.[1] Announced in 2008 with an intention to replace the ageing with a new polar icebreaker by 2017, the program has faced multiple delays and changes, and consists of two icebreakers, and, with the first vessel expected to enter service in 2030.

Project history

Background

In the early 1970s, Canada began planning the construction of large icebreakers to assert its sovereignty in the Arctic Archipelago and defend its claim of Northwest Passage as internal waters rather than international straits. However, neither the conventionally-powered icebreaker referred to as Polar 7 nor the nuclear-powered Polar 10 developed in the late 1970s progressed beyond planning stage. In the 1980s, the Canadian government revised its plans which led to the development of the Polar 8 Project.[2]

The construction of the Polar 8 was awarded to Versatile Pacific Shipyards Limited of North Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1987. However, the shipyard soon ran into financial difficulties and was put up for sale in December 1988. The initial cost estimate had also been too optimistic and when the attempts to address the rising costs with design changes turned out unsuccessful, the Polar 8 project was cancelled on 19 February 1990.[3] Instead of building a new icebreaker, the Coast Guard opted to modernize Louis S. St-Laurent and purchase a former commercial icebreaker, Terry Fox, as a stopgap measure.[4]

National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy

On 27 February 2008, the Government of Canada announced plans for a "Polar Class Icebreaker Project" as part of Canada's National Shipbuilding Strategy. During a visit to Inuvik, Northwest Territories on 28 August 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that the ship would be named CCGS John G. Diefenbaker after Canada's 13th prime minister whose government that founded the Canadian Coast Guard in 1962. The project initially had an estimated budget of C$720 million to replace the nation's largest icebreaker and the flagship of the Canadian Coast Guard, .[5] [6] [7] [8]

The Minister of Defence Peter MacKay stated that the icebreaker will be built in Canada.[9] Former Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Loyola Hearn announced the icebreaker will be homeported in his riding of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. He also stated that the vessel will be larger than Louis S. St-Laurent which she will be replacing.[10]

The Canadian Coast Guard announced on 28 April 2010 that it was then "at the preliminary stages of conceptual design for the polar icebreaker. A "Request for Proposals" to undertake detailed design work was to have been ready mid-2011 with vessel construction to begin in 2013.[11]

In early February 2012, STX Canada Marine (now Vard Marine Inc) was awarded the contract to design the new icebreaker for the Canadian Coast Guard. Although the majority of the design work was conducted in Vancouver, British Columbia by STX Canada, the design team also included the Finnish engineering company Aker Arctic.[12] The work was initially planned to be complete by the end of 2013.

In October 2012, a 1:25 scale model of the polar icebreaker was being evaluated in at the National Research Council's Institute for Ocean Technology in St. John's.[13] Additional testing was carried out at Aker Arctic's ice tank in Finland.[14]

In May 2013 the Vancouver Sun reported that the Harper government acknowledged that both the polar icebreaker and the Royal Canadian Navy's new joint support ships faced a scheduling conflict.[15] According to the Vancouver Sun, because both vessels were scheduled to be built in the same facility, the Harper government would have to choose which project had priority, and went first. The Canadian American Strategic Review argued that the polar icebreaker better served protecting Canadian sovereignty than the joint support ships, and should therefore get built first.[16] However, on 11 October 2013 the NSPS Secretariat announced that the joint support ships would be built first, followed by the polar icebreaker. This delay, coupled with the later decision to re-open the issue of where the polar icebreaker was to be constructed, required the government to try to keep the old icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent in service through the 2020s. Refits were planned for that ship to take place at the Davie Shipyard over three 5-month dry-docking periods in 2022, 2024 and 2027 respectively, with an alongside work period in 2023.[17]

In November 2013, it was reported that the budget for the polar icebreaker was revised up to 1.3 billion Canadian dollars, almost twice the initial estimate.[18] Melanie Carkner of the Canadian Coast Guard stated that part of the price increase was to cover future requirements for the ship.[19]

National Shipbuilding Strategy

Originally the ship was allocated to be built by Seaspan at their Vancouver Shipyard facility, in British Columbia after the company completed work on the joint support ship project. However, the latter project was significantly delayed and in 2019 the Government of Canada announced a decision to remove the Polar Icebreaker from Seaspan's portfolio of work and an announcement to build up to sixteen Multi Purpose Vessels. Following a Government review, in 2021, that decision was reversed and the Government announced that two Polar Icebreaker's would be built, one at Seaspan and one at the Davie Yard in Quebec.

After a brief hiatus, the development of the Canadian Coast Guard polar icebreaker picked up again in late 2021. Design updates since have included changing the propulsion layout and substituting the extra high tensile steel that was previously identified as a potential major risk item.[20] [21]

In June 2024, the Parlamentiary Budget Officer estimated the cost for two ships at C$8.5 billion, up from an earlier estimate of C$7.25 billion in 2021.[22]

Construction

The construction of the first vessel,, is projected to begin in 2024–2025 and the vessel is projected to enter service in 2030–2031. The vessel is in Construction Engineering (CE) phase and the shipyard has also cut steel for the so-called "prototype block".

Negotiations for the second vessel,, are underway with Davie Shipbuilding and the construction is projected to begin in 2026–2027 with delivery in 2032–2033.

Ships in class

Ship nameBuilderYard numberIMO numberLaid downLaunchedDeliveredCommissionedStatus
align=center Seaspan Vancouver Shipyards (North Vancouver, British Columbia)align=center 198align=center 4738681align=center align=center align=center align=center 2030 (planned)align=center Construction Engineering
align=center Davie Shipbuilding (Lauzon, Quebec)align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center Not started

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Polar icebreakers. Government of Canada. 20 August 2024.
  2. Book: Maginley . Charles D. . Collin . Bernard . amp . 2001 . The Ships of Canada's Marine Services . Vanwell Publishing Limited . St. Catharines, Ontario . 1-55125-070-5.
  3. Book: Michaud . Nelson . Nossal . Kim Richard . amp . 2001 . Diplomatic Departures: The Conservative Era in Canadian Foreign Policy, 1984–93 . UBC Press . Vancouver, British Columbia . 0-7748-0864-0.
  4. Book: Maginley, Charles D. . 2003 . The Canadian Coast Guard 1962–2002 . registration . Vanwell Publishing Limited . St. Catharines, Ontario . 1-55125-075-6.
  5. Web site: Arctic icebreaker, fishing port, tax break a start: northerners . . 27 February 2008 . 8 May 2021 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080301220843/http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2008/02/27/north-reax.html . 1 March 2008.
  6. Web site: Feds to replace old icebreaker . . Windeyer . Chris . 29 February 2008 . 8 May 2021 . Ottawa will put aside $720 million this year to commission the icebreaker, which the government says will have better ice breaking capability than the Louis St. Laurent, considered the workhorse of the Coast Guard. . https://web.archive.org/web/20080303122736/http://www.nunatsiaq.com/news/nunavut/80229_964.html . 3 March 2008 . dead.
  7. Web site: Icebreaker Replacement Deadline Looms: Despite $720 million in yesterday's federal budget, procurement for a new polar icebreaker will take eight to 10 years . . Berthiaume . Lee . 27 February 2008 . 4 March 2008 . Despite setting aside $720 million in yesterday's budget to purchase a new polar class icebreaker, the government will be cutting things close if it wants to decommission the ageing Louis St. Laurent heavy icebreaker as scheduled by 2017, according to Canadian Coast Guard commissioner George Da Pont. . dead . 12 February 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090212143222/http://www.embassymag.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=%2F2008%2Ffebruary%2F27%2Ficebreaker_deadline%2F .
  8. Web site: Reaction mixed on fed's budget . Northern News Services . Thomas . Brodie . 3 March 2008 . 8 May 2021 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110714190130/http://nnsl.com/northern-news-services/stories/papers/mar3_08bud.html . 14 July 2011.
  9. Web site: Little news not good news for region: $720 million allocated to replace coast guard icebreaker . . Stephen . Maher . 28 February 2008 . 4 March 2008 . dead . 18 July 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110718205853/http://thechronicleherald.ca/News/1040406.html .
  10. Web site: Feds fall short . https://archive.today/20130101132254/http://www.southerngazette.ca/index.cfm?sid=113576&sc=382 . dead . 1 January 2013 . . Mullowney . Tara . 4 March 2008 . 8 May 2021 . ...and $720 million in funding for the Coast Guard will translate into a polar class ice-breaker that will be based in Newfoundland..."This is a bigger boat, so you can add to that.".
  11. Web site: Fisheries and Oceans Canada . The CCGS John G. Diefenbaker National Icebreaker Project . 8 May 2021 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101016073810/http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/e0010762 . 16 October 2010.
  12. Web site: Aker Arctic helps design new Canadian icebreaker . https://archive.today/20130124141838/http://www.goodnewsfinland.com/archive/news/aker-arctic-helps-design-new-canadian-icebreaker/ . 24 January 2013 . Good News Finland . 29 February 2012 . 8 May 2021.
  13. Web site: New polar vessel breaks the ice, on a small scale . CBC News . 24 October 2012 . 8 May 2021 . live. https://web.archive.org/web/20121025110103/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/story/2012/10/23/nl-polar-icebreaker-ice-testing-1023.html . 25 October 2012 .
  14. Web site: Vessel report: Polar icebreaker . PDF . Marine Technology . October 2014 . 68–71 . Scott . Newbury . Dan . McGreer . live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170829151356/https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/SNAME/d7614a0a-1160-449c-8cdb-12d56ad4c697/UploadedImages/MTOCT2014_68-71.pdf . 29 August 2017 .
  15. Web site: Feds face tough choice as naval resupply ships, icebreaker on collision course at Vancouver shipyard . . Lee . Berthiaume . 7 May 2013 . 8 May 2021 . 13 May 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130513024736/http://www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=8351069&sponsor= . dead . This scheduling conflict was acknowledged in a recent Defence Department report tabled in Parliament, which noted that "the Joint Support Ship and the Polar Icebreaker are progressing on a very similar schedule such that they both could be ready for construction at the same time.".
  16. Web site: What are the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy Priorities? Scheduling Conflicts force a choice between JSS & Polar Icebreaker . . Stephen . Priestley . May 2013 . 8 May 2021 . 19 May 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130519014141/http://casr.ca/ft-jss-or-diefenbreaker.htm . dead . There is no question that the JSS Project has become a major embarrassment [sic] for the Harper government. But this shouldn't be a decision based on political considerations. The only question that matters is which ship class adds the most to assuring Canadian sovereignty. Without JSS, the RCN loses much of its capacity to project Canadian military power abroad. Without heavy icebreakers, Canada will lose much of its ability to establish a 'presence' in the High Arctic (as well as needed infrastructure support in the south during winter)..
  17. Web site: Canada's largest icebreaker to undergo life extension upgrade . Hakirevic . Naida . navaltoday.com . 4 November 2020 . 8 May 2021 . live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201105014516/https://www.navaltoday.com/2020/11/04/canadas-largest-icebreaker-to-undergo-life-extension-upgrade/ . 5 November 2020 .
  18. Web site: Coast guard's new icebreaker to cost twice as much as originally estimated . https://web.archive.org/web/20131216210550/http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/2013-budget/Coast+guard+icebreaker+cost+twice+much+originally/9162301/story.html . 16 December 2013 . Calgary Herald . Berthiaume . Lee . 13 November 2013 . 8 May 2021.
  19. Web site: Cost Of New Coast Guard Icebreaker Almost Doubles . Pugliese . David . 13 November 2013 . Ottawa Citizen . Postmedia Network Inc. . 24 November 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131202235754/http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2013/11/13/cost-of-new-coast-guard-icebreaker-almost-doubles/ . 2 December 2013.
  20. Web site: Aker Arctic provides ice expertise for Canadian Polar Icebreaker. Aker Arctic. 26 September 2023. 26 September 2023.
  21. Web site: Canada could face trouble buying specialized steel for new $7-billion icebreakers. Ottawa Citizen. 24 March 2022. 26 September 2023.
  22. Web site: The Polar Icebreaker Project: A Fiscal Analysis . 2021-12-16 . Christopher . Penney . Eskandar . Elmarzougui . Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer .

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