Public Services News

The Canadian government on Tuesday announced it has awarded a pair of contracts to Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd. (VSY) to initiate the next stages of procuring the first flight of Multi-Purpose Vessels (MPV) for the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG).These contracts, which are worth $490.6 million combined (taxes included), following completion of the vessel’s basic design review in late 2023 and allow VSY to undertake pre-construction work, such as selecting specific pieces of equipment…

The Canadian government has awarded a contract to shipbuilder Chantier Davie Canada Inc. of Lévis, Quebec, for initial work related to the construction of new Program Icebreakers. Under this $19.6-million contract including taxes, Davie will begin work to develop the initial design.A series of six new Program Icebreakers is planned to replace the Canadian Coast Guard’s (CCG) medium icebreakers that operate in Atlantic Canada and the St. Lawrence waterways during the winter, and in the Arctic during the summer.This contract enables the shipyard to initiate project planning phases…

Canada's Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Jean-Yves Duclos, on behalf of the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Diane Lebouthillier, announced a contract award following a competitive process, valued at approximately $44 million (including taxes) to Ocean Industries Inc. for the vessel life extension of the CCGS Griffon.Scheduled to take place from June 2025 to October 2026, the vessel life extension work entails refurbishing and repairing the main propulsion motors…

Canadian shipbuilding group Davie announced it has finalized its acquisition of Finland’s Helsinki Shipyard Oy, which has struggled to gain new business due to Western sanctions against Russia.The deal has been nearly a year in the making, starting from December 2022. By March 2023, Davie exercised an exclusive option to purchase the assets of Helsinki Shipyard. In April a business purchase agreement was signed, and on July 4 Davie secured a new 50-year land lease from the city of Helsinki.Financial terms of agreement were not disclosed…

Shipbuilder Chantier Naval Forillon in Gaspé, Quebec has received an order to build a new Near-Shore Fishery Research Vessel (NSFRV) for the Canadian Coast Guard.Expected to join the Canadian Coast Guard fleet as early as 2027, the new vessel will be the agency's first-ever diesel-electric hybrid vessel with a battery energy storage system, designed to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels.Announced last week by Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard…

The international shipping industry as a whole is responsible for 2% to 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and if nothing changes, those will increase by 250% by 2050, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Sobering numbers like these have made reducing emissions across the sector a focus for governments, shipbuilders, environmentalists, vessel owners and technology suppliers alike.The United States federal ship fleet, excluding combat ships, consists of various types of vessels utilized for civilian purposes. This fleet of vessels makes the U.S.

The Canadian Coast Guard has revealed big plans to invest in its fleet of small vessels.Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, on Thursday announced $2.5 billion CAD (roughly $1.8 billion USD) for the construction of up to 61 new small vessels and the ongoing replacement of small craft, barges and workboats within the Canadian Coast guard fleet.“This is a critical investment that will help modernize the Canadian Coast Guard’s small vessel fleet,” Murray said.

The Canadian Coast Guard has awarded Heddle Shipyards a $36.14 million vessel life extension contract for the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) George R. Pearkes. The vessel will be dry-docked and enter an extended maintenance period designed to increase its operational life.The Hamilton, Ont. yard secured the contract following an open and competitive bid process. The project was awarded by Public Services and Procurement Canada on behalf of the Canadian Coast Guard.Life extension work includes steel hull reinforcement…

Marine Learning Systems (MLS) has renewed an existing contract with the Canadian Coast Guard to supply a maritime learning management system. Named SeaReady, the learning management system supports the Western Region of the Canadian Coast Guard by providing online training and assessment to operational and technical personnel.Following a fair and transparent process through Public Services and Procurement Canada, Marine Learning Systems was initially awarded the contract due to their ability to deliver learning and assessment tools to remote locations without reliance on internet connectivity.

Canadian shipbuilder Seaspan Shipyards announced on Monday it has cut steel and started full-rate construction of the newest oceanographic science research vessel for the Canadian Coast Guard and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.The 88-meter Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel (OOSV) is being built under Canada's National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) at Seaspan’s multi-program Vancouver Shipyard concurrently with the first Joint Support Ship (JSS) for the Royal Canadian Navy.The OOSV will support oceanographic…

Satellite communications provider Iridium Communications Inc. announced Tuesday that its Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) service officially went live on Friday, December 11, ending a monopoly held by rival Inmarsat and enhancing the integrity of global safety communications for seafarers globally.GMDSS is an internationally regulated service, governed by the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention. It provides life-saving assistance to seafarers in distress and has required equipment on board more than 60…

Fourteen people believed to have traveled from Venezuela to Trinidad and Tobago were found dead in waters near the South American nation's coast, Venezuelan authorities said on Sunday, hours after Trinidad and Tobago confirmed the first bodies being found.At least 40,000 Venezuelans live in Trinidad and Tobago, the majority fleeing their country's economic crisis, unemployment, and lack of basic public services, often traveling in small rickety boats above their capacity, with limited supplies of fuel and food.Last year…

The Port of Gdynia Authority (PGA) in Poland has recently launched a formal procedure to select a private partner for the construction of the outer port in the Port of Gdynia.The project is a strategic investment of the Port of Gdynia Authority S.A., and is enlisted in the Polish government’s Seaports Development Program. The outer port development project, which is being prepared as a public-private partnership, consists of the construction of a new deep-water container terminal with an annual transshipment capacity of 2.5 million TEU.

Protesters blocked Port Sudan's container terminal and a road between the eastern city and the capital Khartoum on Sunday to protest against a peace deal signed by the government and groups from across the country, a union official and residents said.The deal, ratified on Saturday in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, was focused on resolving conflicts in the western Darfur region and southern states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan.Groups from other regions also signed, but some in the east say the two factions that participated in the "eastern track" of the peace process do not represent polit

Canadian shipbuilder Seaspan Shipyards on Friday launched the final ship in a series of three Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels (OFSV) for the Canadian Coast Guard.The 63.4-meter CCGS John Cabot will next undergo sea trials before its delivery to the Coast Guard later this summer. The vessel will be based in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.CCGS John Cabot and previously delivered sister ships, CCGS Sir John Franklin, now stationed in Victoria, British Columbia, and CCGS Capt Jacques Cartier…

Two Canadian shipyards have joined forces in a bid for the contract to deliver the next polar icebreaker under Canada's National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS).Seaspan Shipyards (Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd.) and Heddle Shipyards (Heddle Marine Service Inc.) announced Tuesday they will big as partners to build the Canadian Coast Guard’s future polar icebreaker to replace the decades old CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent by 2029.Under the terms of their exclusive teaming agreement, if Seaspan Shipyards is awarded the Polar Icebreaker…

Canada's government awarded a $12.1-million contract to East Coast repair yard Shelburne Ship Repair to perform vessel life extension work on the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) Edward Cornwallis.The 34-year-old light icebreaker CCGS Edward Cornwallis is a high-endurance multi-tasked vessel launched in 1986 and built by Marine Industries from Tracy, Quebec. The 83-meter-long vessel performs icebreaking and buoy tending operations and is homeported at the Canadian Coast Guard Base in Dartmouth…

Canada's new eye in the sky will help detect oil spills and other marine pollution, and monitor ship and endangered whale movements.Minister of Transport Marc Garneau announced that Transport Canada has acquired a new addition to its National Aerial Surveillance Program’s aircraft fleet in an effort to enhance prevention measures needed to respond to marine pollution incidents faster and more effectively, and to better protect marine ecosystems and habitats.The De Havilland Dash 8 aircraft…

North Vancouver shipbuilder Seaspan Shipyards on Thursday held a keel laying ceremony for the Royal Canadian Navy’s future joint support ship HMCS Protecteur.Scheduled for 2023 delivery, the newbuild is the first of two joint support ships to be constructed by Seaspan as part Canada's National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS). With a length of 173.7 meters and a breath of 24 meters, the vessel will be the largest naval ship by length ever built in Canada.“Today’s keel-laying ceremony represents another milestone in our commitment to provide modern…

The Government of Canada announced East Coast shipbuilder Chantier Davie has pre-qualified to become the third strategic partner under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), a long-term, multibillion-dollar program to renew the Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy fleets.Back in May, Canada’s Government announced its intention to add a third Canadian shipyard as a partner under the NSS, and on August 2, it launched the competitive process to select the new yard to build six program icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard.According to the Government of Canada…

Iridium Communications announced the first seven companies it has authorized to provide its Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) services, planned for commercial introduction in the first half of 2020. The seven companies, Arion Communications, AST, Marlink, Marsat, NSSLGlobal, Satcom Global and Speedcast will be the first in the industry to provide truly global satellite GMDSS service to mariners, and the first to offer a new choice in satellite network and equipment.

The global port management company, International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) said that its Honduran unit  Operadora Portuaria Centroamericana (OPC) is in talks with the government of Honduras to improve the facilities at Puerto Cortes, Central America 4’s (CA-4).Puerto Cortes, Central America 4’s (CA-4) largest port operated by OPC, can expect faster cargo movement in and around the terminal with OPC beefing up its partnership with Honduran authorities for improved and more efficient port services, said a statement."OPC is working with the Honduran government and Puerto Cortés authorities to enhance the port’s competitiveness and better serve its customers in the four-nation CA-4, comprising Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Government of Canada is entering into contract negotiations with shipbuilder Chantier Davie of Lévis, Quebec, for the construction of two new ferries for Transport Canada.Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, on behalf of the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility, announced that the Government of Canada is entering into contract negotiations with Chantier Davie of Lévis, Quebec, for the construction of two new ferries for Transport Canada.The contract value and construction timelines will be determined once negotiations with the shipyard are completed. The Government of Canada will…