Local shipyard scores big contract
Mary Ellen Green
Staff writer
April 28, 2008
Mary Ellen Green
Lookout
Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, Michael M. Fortier, announces Victoria Shipyards has won the 12-year, $351 million contract for maintenance and mid-life refit of five Halifax class frigates.
Victoria Shipyards Company Ltd has been awarded a 12-year, $351-million contract for ongoing maintenance and a mid-life refit for the Halifax-class frigates based on the West Coast.
The Frigate Equipment Life Extension (FELEX) is part of the Halifax class modernization initiative announced in 2007. All five frigates from Canadian Fleet Pacific will participate in the project, announced at a press conference in Esquimalt Monday, April 21.
Hundreds of shipyard employees gathered with the media and the navy to witness the announcement made by Michael M. Fortier, Minister of Public Works and Government Services. He congratulated the employees of Victoria Shipbuilding Co. Ltd saying, “You didn’t win this contract by accident; you won it because you’re the best.”
The contract is expected to create 110 local jobs and help maintain the additional 450 positions currently filled at the shipyard.
“The (contracts) will reinforce a centre of excellence for the frigates on the coast and reduce the risk of relying on foreign shipyards. Canada depends on a qualified work force to repair vessels,” said Minister Fortier.
The work will start in the next few weeks, with HMCS Vancouver as the first to dock at the largest solid-bottom commercial dry dock on the West Coast of the Americas.
Many members of the navy were present for the announcement, including Rear-Admiral Tyrone Pile, Commander of Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific.
He said each ship will take about 18 months to complete, and he’s hoping that once the shipyard becomes familiar with the frigates, it will increase efficiency and speed up the process.
On Canada’s opposite coast, Minister of National Defence and Minister of Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Peter MacKay, announced the awarding of a $549 million contract to Halifax Shipyards to refit the remaining seven East Coast frigates in the Canadian Fleet.
MacKay announced the contract in a press conference at Halifax Shipyards, held almost in simulcast with the one on the West Coast.
“This modernization project will not only improve the navy’s ability to protect Canadian waters, it will also create good, skilled jobs for our shipbuilding sector,” MacKay said.
“We want to see a lot more young people starting here, both in the navy and with the shipyards. We want to see young people given opportunities to work on those ships and to sail in them.”
