Lee Berthiaume’s Postmedia News article on 8 May, entitled “Armed Arctic vessels face delay in latest procurement setback,” reports a further three-year delay in procurement of these ships. If true – the NDHQ procurement website continues to quote an in-service date of 2016 for the first ship - that is […]
Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship
The problem with the ships Senator Kenny wants 'axed' is that they are not just ice-capable ships: they are a hybrid design for both arctic and offshore patrol work. Arctic operations require high endurance: lots of capacity for supplies plus hauling all waste by-products out again. Fuel is an especially […]
Senator Colin Kenny’s remarks this week (as reported by Murray Brewster in the Toronto Star, “Tory Arctic ship plan should be sunk, replaced with real icebreakers: senator,” and Paul MacLeod in the Herald News, “Arctic patrol ships ‘dumb’,”) has raised a lot of interest in what capabilities are envisioned for […]
Moderator’s Note: This article was original published in The Chronicle Herald on 12 February 2012. Many of you who have followed the National Ship Procurement Strategy (NSPS) announcements will no doubt have heard that the first contract to be negotiated will be for a new class of ship, the Arctic/Offshore […]
The Royal Netherlands Navy will not be taking delivery two new Holland-class ocean-going patrol vessels, due to cutbacks in military spending. It would be interesting to read an expert opinion on Broadsides about these state of the art 3000-tonne ships and speculate on their fit in the Canadian navy. OPVs have been […]
During my 50+ years in ship design and construction in both Canada and the United States, it was the policy of a new ship design team, when given the operational requirements for a new ship, to review the archives for an existing ship which most closely met the desired operating […]
As a Canadian citizen living in the US, I am appalled that the government of Canada would promote a concept for 'defense' of the Arctic that has no visible purpose! Delivery of as-yet not designed, prototype naval vessels with pop-gun armaments for gun-boat diplomacy, at some indeterminate time in the […]
In my post of 27 February I stated that it was not clear whether the view that ice breakers were needed "rather" than strengthened arctic patrol vessels was Mr. Byers' personal one or the collective view of all the negotiators. So I interviewed one of the participants, Rob Huebert, who […]
The following National Post article is 98% reassuring for those who wish a rational, timely and effective Canadian government response to our Arctic challenges. The creation of a new Canadian-American "collaborative regime" in the Arctic makes nothing but sense. Simulated talks show possible solution for Arctic dispute U.S. and Canadian […]
Last October, the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard launched, for the first time ever, a unified maritime strategy. This took place for good reasons. The challenges facing maritime forces in the 21st century have to be addressed cooperatively. Only a very few maritime tasks can be considered […]