Wilfrid Laurier News

Kongsberg Maritime said the Canadian Coast Guard has chosen its high resolution EM 712 multibeam echo sounders for the medium icebreakers CCGS Pierre Radisson and the CCGS Des Groseilliers. Gathering critical hydrographic data can be a challenge in the Canadian Arctic. The innovative, retractable design of the new EM 712 echo sounder systems optimizes performance of the sounder when deployed and protects it when the vessel is breaking ice. When deployed, the high-resolution EM…

Located 100 miles northwest of Barrow, Alaska, the crew of the 225-foot buoy tender out of Sitka was on a mission to support marine mammal research conducted by Josh Jones, a graduate student researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) in San Diego. The Coast Guard crew used their buoy-tending skills and equipment to recover the floating ball, which surfaced after spending a year 1,000 feet below. Suspended beneath the yellow buoy was a high-frequency acoustic recording package (HARP)…

ABB said it will modernize 10 out of 14 Medium Icebreakers and High Endurance Multi Task Canadian Coast Guard ships to extend operational life of the vessels by another 20 years. “For more than 75 years ABB has been working at the cutting edge of icebreaker technology and we are delighted to bring this expertise to these Canadian Coast Guard ships,” said Jyri Jusslin, Senior Vice President of ABB Global Marine & Ports Service. Design and work supply on first of the 10 vessels, CCGS Pierre Radisson, is already underway and will be completed in July 2017. From then on the remaining nine vessels will be completed in following order: CCGS Ann Harvey (2018), CCGS Des Groseilliers (2018), CCGS Sir William Alexander (2018), CCGS Martha L.

Canadian, U.S. Coast Guards and Foss Maritime coordinate a textbook response operation. Robust response trumps the need for later salvage. In the early hours of Friday, October 17, the crew of the Russian cargo ship Simushir attempted to repair a broken oil heater. On its way to Pevek in the Russian Far East, the vessel suddenly lost propulsion and began drifting toward the nearest land, which in this case was the archipeligo Haida Gwaii. Just off the coast of northern British Columbia…

The Govermnent of Canada announces that with an unprecedented number of organizations from the public, private and non-profit sectors it will partner together, using state-of-the-art technology, to locate the historic ships of the ill-fated 1845 Franklin Expedition. The 2014 Franklin Expedition will also have the added benefit of furthering our knowledge in a number of priority areas, including through the collection of important scientific information about Canada's most remote region. Government partners for the 2014 Victoria Strait expedition include Parks Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard, the Royal Canadian Navy…

Highlighting the need for safer navigation in Canada’s Arctic, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) released its report into the August 2010 grounding of the cruise ship, Clipper Adventurer in Coronation Gulf, Nunavut (M10H0006). "Our investigation determined there were problems with the vessel’s voyage planning but we also found that key safety information was not being proactively provided to vessels transiting the Arctic,” said TSB Investigator-in-Charge, Eric Asselin. “Traffic in these fragile waters is increasing.

MAN B&W Diesel Canada has appointed Roger Noseworthy as director of Sales & Marketing. A sales and marketing professional with previous experience in the automotive after-market and industrial power tool industry, Noseworthy holds an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University.

D.F. International logistics service provider D.F. Young, Inc. has announced the relocation of its headquarters office from New York City to Jersey City, N.J. in the first quarter of 2001. The company is leasing 14,000 sq. ft. at 1 Journal Square in Jersey City, after operating from downtown New York for most of its 97-year history. "When this company was started in 1903, all the shipping companies and banks were located in downtown Manhattan," said Thomas Mosimann, president of D.F. Young. "But the port has moved, and most of the other forwarders have followed it to New Jersey over the last 10 to 15 years. D.F.Young already has its Marine Department located in Port Elizabeth, N.J., as well as offices across the U.S. in Jamaica, N.Y.

Converteam was awarded a contract from the federal Government of Canada to provide mid-life electrical system upgrade services to the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker, Sir Wilfrid Laurier. The scope $2.65m contract includes three main elements: upgrade the existing propulsion system; supply a new bow thruster system; and supply new drive systems and motors for the existing cranes. Converteam will design, manufacture, supply, and warrant the complete equipment sets, as well as provide an operator training program for each system. Additional services to be provided include assisting the shipyard during initial equipment installation, equipment commissioning and testing, plus sea trials and performance tests.

On March 22, off B.C.'s north coast, rescuers plucked dozens of people from lifeboats after The Queen of the North, sailing south on a 450-kilometer overnight trip from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy along what's known as B.C.'s Inside Passage, hit a rock just after 12:30 a.m. and sank in choppy seas and high winds. All of the 101 people aboard - 42 crew members and 59 passengers - were rescued and accounted for. Most were taken to a community center in Hartley Bay where the town's residents brought them blankets and coffee. Others were aboard the Coast Guard vessel the Sir Wilfrid Laurier. The 125-meter-long vessel was reported to be completely submerged about 135 kilometers from Prince Rupert after hitting Gil Island in Wright Sound, listing to one side and then sinking.