Canada is considering leasing and converting a second auxiliary tanker to help bridge the gap until its long overdue Joint Support Ship project comes into fruition.
The move is being pushed along by Davie Shipyards in Quebec who are attempting to secure a second contract for a converted supply ship from the Liberal-led Federal Government. The company claims it has the base vessel, a container ship known as the Obelix, available for immediate conversion.
The Royal Canadian Navy has had a capability gap in the replenishment space since 2015 when the well-aged Protecteur class were withdrawn. Two new vessels to form a new Protecteur class, based off the German Berlin-class design, are about to begin construction in Vancouver and will not be available until the early 2020s at the earliest. In the meantime, Canada has been relying on allied navies for support and utilising vessels leased from other navies including the Spanish ship Cantabria and Chilean Admiral Montt.
Under project Resolve the Royal Canadian Navy has recently leased the German-built commercial vessel Asterix which underwent conversion at Davie to operate it as a stopgap replenishment vessel for the next few years. Asterix has recently left Davie on sea trials and all going well should enter full service in the new year. Now Davie want to convert the Obelix as well to strengthen this stopgap capability, and most importantly from the political perspective prevent further job cuts in the Montreal area.
According to Davie CEO Alex Vicefield at least 800 jobs could be on the line across the shipyard and its supply chain, with redundancies already made at their plant in Levis. Vicefield argues that converting the Obelix would cost only CA$600 million and could begin immediately, compared to the CA$2 billion cost of the new Protecteur class with a delayed start.
The Joint Support Ship project has been an ongoing drama in Canadian defence policy since 2004 when it was initially announced that construction would begin in 2008. Since then there have been numerous proposals, tenders, reviews and debates over ship names but little visible progress. A contract for the modified Berlin class vessels has now been awarded to Seaspan and construction is expected to begin shortly following the recent launch of their last project – a scientific vessel for the Canadian Coast Guard.
The Royal Canadian Navy maintains two largely separate fleets on its Pacific and Atlantic coasts which necessitates the optimal requirement for at least two replenishment vessels in service. This is a core part of the argument for extension of project Resolve. The Resolve project is being managed privately by Davie in association with Federal Fleet Services, who own the ship and are leasing it to the Canadian government, and the contract includes a buyout option for the navy after ten years.
At this stage the Liberal Government remains officially committed to building the two new vessels at Seaspan, with political wrangling likely to continue however it is hard to predict how many more twists and turns there will be in the ongoing drama that has been the Joint Support Ship project.
i am quite shocked the muppets in westminster have not turned round and sold them our new tide class ones they seem to want to sell everything else…
Shh
Dont give them ideas
Don’t need to RCN will be supported during ops by RFA tides if needed.
At least Canada is building them themselves which is more than we were allowed to do with the Tides. No other country is the entire World wages war against their own heavy industry even close to as much as Britain.
Watch as these “interim” vessels become the permanent fixture and the JSS project is canned.
At least the Canadians only build in Canada …. HM Government please note.
Not really, Canada is in a situation where it is having to lease interim vessels BECAUSE of their build only in Canada policy! MV Asterix and Obelix were built on Germany, the former was converted in Canada using a 2,200ton accommodation block built in Finland! The Tide class was ordered for the RFA a bit over a year before the Canadians ordered the Berlin Class derived JSS Protecteur class. All four Tide class have now been built, one in service and the other three fitting out or in contractors sea trials. Seaspan in Canada haven’t even started to build the… Read more »
Well said.
Not counting the simple fact that for the price of just 1 of the yet to be delivered JSS the UK got 4 larger more capable ships delivered earlier and still cheaper.
Canadian procurement policy makes the MOD’s look like a well oiled machine.
As a “Colonial Canadian” could not agree with you more Freshman! Canada should go the way of the KIWI’s with respect to their procurement process!! We do need the second MV Obelix tanker for the West Coast. Yes Canada did have the Island structure built by Finland, however that was more of a time and logistics decision than anything else. The Protecteur Class will be nothing more than a “poor mans” Amphibious Ship and just a gas can for our Frigates!! We need to go the way of Australia and get a “true” Amphibious Sealift Capability soon!!
Maybe they could pickup HMAS Sirius? She is a conversion and will be available shortly when our new Spanish ships arrive. She’s younger than our F-18 fleet.
Honestly, as a Canadian our procurement process is the worst ever. My son serves on a Halifax class Frigate and they can barely deploy. Shame.on our politicians for neglecting our military so badly.