St. John’s Dockyard receives CCGS Cygnus VLE contract

St. John’s Dockyard has received a contract from the Canadian Government for vessel life extension (VLE) and refit work to the Canadian Coast Guard vessel, CCGS Cygnus.

The $1.2m contract has been awarded as part of the $360m investment, announced in February 2013, to extend the life of the Coast Guard fleet while the contract will also be funded in part from the Coast Guard’s regular refit budget.

Over the next 10 years, the Harper Government will extend the operational lives of sixteen Canadian Coast Guard vessels as well as conduct mid-life modernisations on an additional two existing hovercraft over the next, as part of the Coast Guard’s fleet renewal programme investment allocated in Economic Action Plan 2012.

As part of the investment programme, the Coast Guard will acquire 18-21 new vessels, up to five new medium endurance multi-tasked vessels and up to five offshore patrol vessels.

Capable of operating beyond 120nm including outside the exclusive economic zone, the CCGS Cygnus offshore patrol vessel is used primarily for fisheries enforcement and search and rescue on the Atlantic coast.

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency minister Rob Moore said the contract will create jobs and economic benefits in the Newfoundland and Labrador shipbuilding sector.

"Over the last seven years, our Government has made unprecedented investments in the Canadian Coast Guard to enable the men and women of the Coast Guard to continue their important work," Moore added.

"As a result of this work, the CCGS Cygnus is expected to remain in service until 2022."

Scheduled to take place from January to March 2014, the CCGS Cygnus’s VLE work includes steel renewals throughout the vessel as well as replacement and alignment of the tail shaft, repairs to the main mast and a new anchor.

The boat is expected to enter service in March 2014.

Image: CCGS Cygnus conducting mission at sea. Photo: courtesy of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.