The federal authorities says it doesn’t know when Quebec shipyard Chantier Davie will ship a fleet of recent icebreakers to the Canadian Coast Guard.
Officials say the schedule will rely on negotiations with the shipyard, which was formally added to Ottawa’s multibillion-dollar shipbuilding technique final week.
There are long-standing issues concerning the Coast Guard’s present icebreakers and whether or not replacements will arrive in time.
Auditor General Karen Hogan famous in a report final yr that the fleet is already on common greater than 40 years outdated, more and more liable to breakdowns and costly to keep up.
Hogan concluded there was little room for delays if Ottawa needs to keep up its present icebreaking capabilities, that are important for preserving Canada’s waterways open to commerce and resupplying northern communities.
University of Calgary professor Rob Huebert says the federal government’s determination to purchase three second-hand icebreakers from Davie will assist in the interim, however constructing new icebreakers is time consuming even with out the added complication of negotiations.
