LÉVIS, QC – Davie, Canada’s premier builder of Polar and ice-capable ships, today welcomed Vard and Serco as partners in its Polar Icebreaker program, which is the flagship of Davie’s National Icebreaker Centre (NIC).
Launched last August, the NIC is a growing centre of excellence for Polar and Arctic expertise. It reflects Davie’s history as Canada’s icebreaking partner and its present and future role in rejuvenating the entire ice-capable fleet, under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS). This will create thousands of good jobs, drive domestic economic growth and future exports of Canadian innovation.
Canada’s current Polar Icebreakers have far exceeded their life expectancy. CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent has served Canada with distinction, but is deep into its sixth decade. CCGS Terry Fox is fast approaching 40 years in service. Once replaced by cutting-edge Polars, Canada will be able to maintain a continuous Arctic presence. This will benefit generations of Canadians, including the northern communities, enabling ice-choked trade, supporting Arctic sovereignty and protecting the Polar environment.
Vard is a world-renowned icebreaker designer having developed designs for Canadian, American and Chilean government customers among others. Vard’s best-in-class design for the Polar Icebreaker will support a multitude of Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) missions. When delivered, Canada’s Polar will be the world’s most powerful integrated electric propulsion icebreaker with a strong focus on safety, efficiency and crew comfort. It will also have world-class scientific research capabilities to study the health of the Arctic ecosystem and assess climate change impacts. Vard will provide specialist design, engineering, and program support to Davie.
Serco is globally recognized for its full lifecycle approach to maritime assets. It has a proven track record of delivering large, complex projects spanning naval, coast guard, research and civilian ships. Serco also has extensive icebreaker experience, including lead contractor status for Australia’s flagship research and supply ship. For the Polar program, Serco will provide Davie with its unrivalled engineering, project management and production support.
Davie is Canada’s only mega-yard, with 50% of the Canadian shipbuilding capacity. It expects to begin full production of its NSS Program Icebreaker project by 2025. Its abundance of available capacity means Davie’s world-class workforce, strategic partners and over 1,300 suppliers across Canada, can start work on the Polar immediately, and deliver ahead of the government’s schedule. It will also facilitate a learning curve and economies of scale to greatly benefit both icebreaker programs by mitigating cost, schedule and performance risks.
“We are consolidating skills, capabilities and entire programs at Canada’s National Icebreaker Centre. Together, we can begin work on the Polar today to ensure this game-changing ship is protecting Canada’s Arctic interests without delay. Building Polar at Davie will support both the domestic marine industry and future exports. We will ensure Polar is built in Canada by thousands of Canadians to the highest standards. Made in Canada has never meant more, as we seek to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.” James Davies, President & CEO, Davie Shipbuilding
The construction of the polar icebreaker will generate up to 2,500 well-paid jobs and contribute up to $2.5bn to the economy1. Davie will continue to build on its successes in delivering high-value, cost-effective solutions to Canada. This includes the first fully converted icebreaker CCGS Jean Goodwill which, along with the delivery of CCGS Captain Molly Kool, represents Canada’s biggest addition of icebreaking capacity in a generation. Also, Davie delivered the first ice-class Combat Support Ship, m/v Asterix, whose immense value for money for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was recently recognized by the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO).
1 Davie Shipbuilding Economic and Social Contribution Study. © 2020 Deloitte LLP and affiliated entities
