Final Cost for RCN Joint-Support-Ships Still Unknown as Work Begins

By: Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press 

OTTAWA -- The cutting of steel for the navy's long overdue support ships will begin next month in Vancouver, even though the federal government doesn't know how much the two vessels will ultimately cost.

Federal procurement minister Carla Qualtrough confirmed plans for an early start to work on the supply ships during a breakfast address Thursday at the Cansec defence show in Ottawa.

Seaspan Shipyards will receive $66 million to work on several dozen components of the so-called joint support ships during a lull in the building of two other Canadian Coast Guard vessels.

The government is hoping that advance work will shave about a year off the expected delivery time for the first support vessel, which is currently slated to hit the water in 2023.

It will also ensure Seaspan continues to have work for its employees during what would otherwise be a dead zone between construction of the last of three coast guard fisheries vessels and a new coast guard ocean science ship.

"These support ships will deliver fuel and other vital supplies to vessels at sea," Qualtrough said, "ensuring our women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces are able to carry out their missions for decades to come."

The navy has been without a permanent support ship since retiring its last two in 2015 because of an unexpected fire and excessive corrosion, and is currently relying on a converted civilian vessel to fill the gap.

The first new vessel, originally proposed by the Conservative as the Queenston-Class, now rebranded by the Trudeau Government as the Protecteur-Class was originally supposed to be delivered in 2019, but the project has been plagued with delays. The ships will be modeled after the German Navy's Berlin-Class Supply ships. 

The EVG Berlin, the flagship of The Berlin-Class. 

Even as work is set to begin, however, Qualtrough conceded later that the government still doesn't have a concrete estimate of how much the two joint support ships are going to cost.

"It's too early to speculate on what the (support ships) will ultimately cost," she said.

The previous Conservative government set a budget of $2.3 billion for the vessels back in 2011, but that number has been under review for nearly two years.

The parliamentary budget office pegged the full cost of two support ships back in 2013 at $4.13 billion, while the government's new defence investment plan, released this week, said it could cost up to $4.99 billion.

"There are a lot of things happening on (the support ships)," said Andre Fillion, head of military procurement at Public Services and Procurement Canada.

"The acquisition of long lead items, the start of the (early work) and also a lot of engineering work."

Seaspan vice-president Tim Page told The Canadian Press that the shipbuilder is in negotiations with the government, but remains committed to delivering the support ships to the navy.

Starting work early is a reasonable solution to what would otherwise be a troublesome lull in work at Seaspan, said defence analyst David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

But the government still doesn't have an approved design for the support ships, he said, and the whole point of the federal government's multibillion-dollar shipbuilding strategy was to prevent such production gaps.

"It's a solution to an immediate problem," Perry said, "but it's not by any means an ideal scenario."

RCN to Lease Two Spanish AORs during 2016

By: Esteban Villarejo, Defense News 

MADRID — The Spanish Navy will deploy two auxiliary oiler and replenishment (AOR) vessels in 2016 to "cover the Canadian Navy's temporary need for logistic support vessels in the North Atlantic," military sources told Defense News.

Both replenishment ships — Patiño and Cantabria — will support training for the Royal Canadian Navy's Atlantic fleet in two different time periods: Patiño will operate between February and March, and Cantabria between mid-September and November.

"This support is based on NATO’s principle of solidarity among its allies, by which a country provides a capability that the other does not have," a Spanish military source said. "The deployment will not have additional costs and will not have an impact in our capabilities."

The main mission of a combat-replenishment ship and hospital is to supply fuel, fresh water, ammunition, provisions, spare parts, military equipment, uniforms, medicines and medical assistance to other combat units at sea.

The Cantabria deployed with the Royal Australian Navy in 2013. The government of Australia paid the expenses of that deployment during the year.

This year Canada chose the German Navy’s Berlin-class design to replace its two Protecteur-class supply ships, which have been removed from service.

On Wednesday,, December 8, 2915 the RCN confirmed the Defense News report.

LCdr Alain Blondin, the RCN’s Deputy-Head of Public Affairs, told  the Ottawa Citizen's Defence Watch:

“We can confirm that the RCN is continuing the process of developing a Mutual Logistic Support Arrangement (MLSA) with the Spanish Navy where we will receive services from two separate Spanish vessels in 2016 to fulfill replenishment responsibilities and facilitate training in support of Maritime Forces Atlantic training and exercise activities. The current plan is for the first vessel, the Spanish Navy Ship Patino, to arrive in late January to March, and the second is planned for the fall of 2016. The exact dates are yet to be negotiated. Full details are still to come as negotiations are still ongoing and the MLSA is not yet finalized.”

Villarejo wrote that the Cantabria will be on Canada’s east coast between mid-September and November.

Some RCN sailors are already familiar with the Patiño. In 2014 HMCS Toronto conducted five replenishment-at-sea “evolutions” with both French supply ship Marne and the Patiño, the RCN website noted.

As readers know, Canada is facing a supply ship gap as the new Joint Support Ships are not expected in the water until 2020/2021. Davie is working on converting a container ship into an interim refueller (iAOR) for the RCN. That is expected to be ready in late 2017.

Last summer Canada made arrangements with Chile’s navy to have a supply ship available on the west coast.

Project Resolve: Asterix iAOR to be ready by 2017

Davie Shipbuilding announced on October 8, 2015 that the Asterix had been successfully delivered to its ship yard in  Levis, Quebec, and the final transfer of ownership is complete.

Davie and Project Resolve, will now being retrofitting the Asterix to become an intermediate Auxiliary Oil Replenishment (iAOR) ship for the Royal Canadian Navy until its new Berlin-Class (to be named Queenston-Class) are built.

The Asterix will then operate on a leased basis from Davie to the RCN. Davie announced that they expect the vessel to be delivered and entered into service during the summer of 2017.

Navy: Further Delays expected for Joint Support Ships

On a day when Defence Minister Jason Kenney announced that the government has entered into talks with the Quebec Shipyard about converting a civilian supply-ship for the navy as a stop gap - the Navy has come out and announced that they believe more delays are coming for the Joint Supply Ship (JSS) fleet.

Originally supposed to be built and be in the water by 2012, the JSS's current timeline is to being construction by 2017, and be fully operational by 2021. The Navy currently believes the Vancouver Shipyard will not be ready to begin construction by 2017, due to the fact that they are currently building the government's Fisheries Science and Oceanographic Vessels.

On top of the possibility that construction will not begin on time - a review of the budget has found that the JSS project might not even be affordable. There is a concern that with the lack of ship building in Canada over the past two decades, thaat the Vancouver Shipyard will not be able to hire the qualified staff it will require for the JSS. Also there are questions about the $2.6 billion put aside for the project (another $1.9 billion has been set aside for in-service support). Some critics question whether enough money has been put aside.

The Royal Canadian Navy is planing a third party review of the costs - and will make minor changes to its plans if the costs continue to rise - but says it requires the capabilities of the JSS. The Royal Canadian Navy selected the Germany Navy's Berlin-Class design for the ships - so changes will all depend on what those designs allow.

A Germany Navy Berlin-Class Replenishment Ship

HMCS Algonquin, Preserver, and Protecteur all Retiring from Service

The state of the Royal Canadian Navy has been deteriorating over the past number of decades, and its future is looking more and more uncertain. 2015 will leave its mark on the already shrunken Naval Force, with four of its flag ships being 'paid off' or otherwise known as retiring from service.

Last week I posted about HMCS Iroquois' retirement after 43 years of service on May 1, 2015. The Royal Canadian Navy has since confirmed the dates of its other destroyer and two supply ships.

The HMCS Algonguin  will be retired on Thursday June 11, 2015, at CFB Esquimalt, the ships home since 1994. It was commissioned November 3 1973, and began her career in Halifax. The Algonquin has served the Royal Canadian Navy for 41 spectacular years. It saw deployments to the Standing Naval Forces Atlantic Task Group, to the Gulf of Oman for OP APOLLO, the Eastern Pacific, and numerous deployments to OP CARIBBE.

HMCS Algonquin. File Image (2004) 

The HMCS Protecteur will be retired May 14, 2015 at CFB Esquimalt after 46 years of Service to the Royal Canadian Navy. It was one of the RCN's auxiliary oiler replenishment ships. Protecteur was commission August 30, 1969 and began her career in the Atlantic before being transferred to the Pacific Coast. Her deployment honours include participation in Operation Desert Shield in 1991, Hurricane Andrew Relief in 1992, and part of the multinational task force to assist East Timor from 1999 to 2000, as well as OP APOLLO.  She will be largely remembered for her humanitarian efforts around the world. 

HMCS Protecteur. File Image (2009)

HMCS Preserver, the sister ship of Protecteur  was scheduled to be retired at around the same time as her sister, but DND and the RCN has delayed announcing her retirement date. Preserver  has served the RCN for more than 40 years, and while no longer serving as an active at-sea replenishment vessel, she continues to act as a fueling service for the Atlantic Fleet in Halifax. She was commissioned on the 7 August 1970. She served on Operation DELIVERANCE, off the coast of the former Yugoslavia, search for Swiss Air flight 111, and OP APOLLO. Corrosion was found on her hull in 2014, and she has been off active duty since. She will be retired either later in 2015 or early 2016. 

HMCS Preserver. File Image (2009)

   

The RCN's replacement supply ships (Queenston-Class auxiliary vessels) based on the German Berlin-Class are currently planned for service in 2019/2020. The RCN would like to acquire 3 of these vessels, but the final number has yet to be decided. The minimum would be two. 

The Canadian Surface Combatant fleet (a planned 15 vessels) will eventually replace all of Canada's frigates as well as its destroyers. None have yet even begun construction, and the first is not planned to be ready well into 2018 (a generous estimate) with the likelihood being more like 2020. The entire fleet was supposed to be ready by 2020, and that is looking more and more like the late 2020s. 

                           

Updated: RCN Seeks Supply Vessel Lease

Originally Published Feb 15, 2015
Updated: May 24, 2015

So with Canada's plan for a new fleet of Navy Vessels still on the drawing board, while more and more of its ships are forced into retirement, including the last of its supply vessels earlier this year, Canada will not have to lease the missing pieces it requires to operate the Royal Canadian Navy efficiently. The replacement fleet will not be ready until 2021 at the earliest.

The Government of Canada will look at domestic or international companies to lease commercial vessels that can act as resupply ships so the RCN can resupply warships at sea.

Originally the government intended to purchase surplus US Navy ships but that is likely no longer an option based on the cost and the low availability of the surplus ships.

There are specific requirements the commercial supply ships must meet - but the most important according to DND is that they must be able to refuel vessels at sea and moving.

The US Navy has kindly offered assistance, and the RCN is working to better coordinate the movement of its ships to be within US Supply range when needed - but that convenience also has a cost. Just think of the increased cost of goods when you visit a convenience store.

This solution is limited, because the RCN is not always operating within range of the US ships, and then must put the burden on other Allies in the region.

The Navy will not operate these leased vessels, they would be run by commercial crews, but with Navy personnel managing the communications equipment and the refuelling/restocking systems.

Canada has selected the German Navy's Berlin-class design for its new supply ships, which as more than 20,000 tons and 600 feet long. They will carry two helicopters and medical facilities, but they will not be complete until 2020 and not operational until 2021.

UPDATE:
On Friday May 22, 2015, DND released hints that the Government of Canada will most likely announce this coming week that they are seeking commercial ships to fill the void left by HMCS Preserver  and HMCS Protecteur. The commercial tanker ships will require modification to fit the needs of the Royal Canadian Navy - a process that will be expedited by removing equipment that is still usable (and parts are still available) from the two retired supply ships.

The lease or purchase of two commercial ships would allow for the Navy to at least be refuelled at sea - something that it currently is relying on its Allies in deployment regions for. Naval supply ships allows a Navy to operate for upwards of six months without heading into a port for supplies and fuel. It also helps ships when working out of a battle group, or in a region of the world where allied ports are unavailable.

The Conservative government is taking heat over its "Made in Canada" rebuild of the Navy. While the process will create jobs, it will also likely run over budget and be delayed. This is because there is no large ship building firms in Canada. No corporate memory for such projects. Critics point to the United Kingdom who are acquiring four commercial supply ships for the Royal Navy from South Korea - at a much cheaper cost than the Queenston-Class ships Canada is planning on building. (And they are getting four vessels not three as planned in Canada)

Norway is planning a similar purchase. The release states that several companies have already come forward with options for the Navy's supply vessel problem.



Original Source: Defence News