Canada’s previously announced six-icebreaker constrution project at Davie Shipyards in Quebec, finally got a price tag on Aug. 24 with Prime Minsiter Mark Carney slating $11.3 billion to design and build the vessels.
“These six state-of-the-art icebreakers will keep the trade routes that carry Canadian goods to the world accessible and secure,” Carney said in a statement.
The federal government made the commitment to build six new icebreakers in 2019 to replace the Canadian Coast Guard’s aging heavy and medium icebreakers.
In Canada, icebreakers are used in Atlantic Canada, the St. Lawrence waterways and the Great Lakes in winter, before transferring to the Arctic in the summer to assist with the annual sealift to northern coastal communities, support cargo ships as needed, and conduct search and rescue and environmental response operations.
The new vessels will be Polar Class 3 rated, allowing them to operate year round in second-year ice.
“[This investment] secures Canada’s position as the home of NATO’s largest icebreaking fleet, bolsters national security in the North, and protects Canadian interests,” a government news release said.
Davie Shipyard was selected to build the six Program Icebreakers under Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy and formally became the strategy’s third strategic shipbuilding partner in 2023.
In 2024, the government announced a $19.6-million contract for Davie to begin design work on the vessels.
Construction of the ships is slated to start in 2027, with the first ship expected to be delivered about five years later.
The full fleet of six is planned to be in service by 2038.
Separate from the six-vessel Program Icebreaker project, Davie is also building one of Canada’s two new Polar Icebreakers, CCGS Arpatuuq.
The second Polar Icebreaker, CCGS Imnaryuaq, is being built by Seaspan Shipyards in Vancouver.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Spike in shipping costs to Nunavut via Churchill, Man., operator says, CBC News
Norway: Resource extraction projects, dwindling sea ice power Arctic shipping surge, Eye on the Arctic
Russia: Container ships shuttling Arctic route between China and Russia carry car components, says Chinese shipper, The Independent Barents Observer
United States: U.S. regulator eyes Arctic shipping chokehold as key deadline approaches, Eye on the Arctic
