Seaspan Awarded Contracts for Canadian Coast Guard’s Multi-Purpose Vessels

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, refining the design, ensuring necessary information and plans are in place and procuring material items needed to begin construction.

A $310.2-million construction engineering services contract has been awarded for work to complete the design of the first flight of six MPVs and ensure that the technical requirements provided by the CCG are met. A second $180.4-million goods contract has been awarded for work to procure materials with long-lead manufacturing time and other items that will be required in advance of construction of the first six MPVs.

The MPV program will result in a series of Polar Class 4 icebreaking ships designed with multi-mission capabilities, built to replace current CCG vessels as part of a multi-year fleet renewal plan. With a displacement of 8,500 tonnes, the MPVs will be 99.9 meters long and 20.3 meters wide, and able to accommodate up to 50 personnel.

The delivery of the first MPV is anticipated to be in 2030, with deliveries continuing until the mid-2040s. The new ships will support services such as icebreaking, maritime search and rescue, scientific research, environmental response, emergency towing, maintenance and deployment of buoys, as well as support for offshore fisheries patrols.

“The Multi-Purpose Vessel project will help ensure that members of the Canadian Coast Guard have versatile vessels to complete essential missions in Canada’s oceans and waterways. By awarding the construction engineering services and goods contracts, we are making significant progress toward completing the design and preparing for construction,” said Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Public Services and Procurement.

François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, said, “The Canadian Coast Guard needs to be equipped with the vessels required to continue its vital work. At the same time, our government is making sure that the contracts awarded will generate significant economic benefits for Canadians. Canada’s collaboration with Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd. will bring further investments to the Canadian marine industry, while creating high-value jobs in shipbuilding design, engineering, marine systems and equipment, as well as supporting innovation in the industry.”

On May 22, 2019, the Canadian government announced a $15.7-billion investment to renew the CCG fleet in order to ensure capacity to deliver important services for Canadians. This included building up to 16 MPVs. On August 12, 2020, the government awarded an initial ancillary contract to VSY for the development of the MPV concept design and to collect information about building the vessel. 

John McCarthy, CEO, Seaspan Shipyards, said, “This milestone demonstrates the tremendous capabilities in marine design and engineering that have been developed through the National Shipbuilding Strategy.  Our team, along with our partners from coast to coast, are excited to move to the next phase of this program, and ultimately provide the Canadian Coast Guard with the vessels they need to manage and safeguard Canada’s coastlines. A long run of ships like the MPV program enables Seaspan to continue to drive improvement and generate greater efficiencies, while ensuring we have stability for the next generation of shipbuilders, marine engineers and designers and supply chain in Canada.”

The build program is part of Canada's National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), a long-term, multi-billion-dollar program focused on renewing the CCG and Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) fleets. Contracts under the NSS to date are estimated to have contributed close to $25 billion ($2.1 billion annually) to Canada’s gross domestic product between 2012 and 2022, and created or maintained over 18,800 jobs annually between 2012 and 2023.