New Canadian Shipbuilding Strategy

[jollyjacktar]

They lease the Government of Canada Graving Dock.
But there is a culture at Seaspan of getting things done correctly and quickly.
Irving?

:rofl:

 

[MarkOttawa]

Back to Irving and A/OPS:

Arctic patrol vessels ‘really have started’ construction, says Irving president

“The ships really have started,” Kevin McCoy, the company’s president, said at a news conference Thursday [June 18].

Diane Finley, federal minister of public works and government services, cut a piece of steel destined for one of two “test modules” at Irving’s Marine Fabricators site in Dartmouth.

McCoy said that piece and the modules would be part of the first of six Arctic offshore patrol vessels Irving is constructing as part of the federal shipbuilding contract.

“This piece of steel will form the lower part of the bulkhead just aft of the main propulsion engine of the first (ship),” McCoy told reporters.

The work now underway will consist of cutting steel for two sections — McCoy likened them to large Lego blocks — of the 64 it will take to construct one Arctic patrol vessel…

Work on these two blocks will “take a little extra time this summer to make sure that our processes are right, that our training is right, that everything works the way we expect it to before we go into full production of the ship,” McCoy said…

On Tuesday, more than 600 people attended an Irving job fair in Dartmouth for more than 200 openings the company has for journeypersons in the welding, pipefitting, marine fabrication and ironworking trades.

“About half of that will be people that we recall that are on layoff and about half will be new employees,” McCoy said.

He estimated the company will hire about 125 new people by the end of 2015.

Two more job fairs are scheduled for next month in Fort McMurray, Alta., and Sydney.

Hiring will continue as work moves along and is expected to peak in 2017 at 1,000 direct jobs for the Arctic offshore patrol vessels, company spokeswoman Mary Keith said earlier this week…
http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/1293835-arctic-patrol-vessels-%E2%80%98really-have-started%E2%80%99-construction-says-irving-president

First ship supposed to be delivered in 2018–on verra:
http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/about-reports-pubs-report-plan-priorities/2015-status-report-transformational-major-crown-projects.page#P3

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Privateer]

But there is a culture at Seaspan of getting things done correctly and quickly.
Irving?

Hopefully Seaspan and Irving (and the Government) will treat their work under the existing contracts an an ongoing competition between Seaspan and Irving to show who should be awarded any additional future contracts from the Government.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Seaspan may see it that way, but Irving will just think: "No worries I just call up the old boys network and threaten layoffs"

 

[The Bread Guy]

.... tomorrow morning, according to this:

The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Andrew Saxton, Member of Parliament for North Vancouver, and John Weston, Member of Parliament for West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast–Sea to Sky Country, will highlight an important milestone regarding shipbuilding.

Date: June 24, 2015
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards
50 Pemberton Avenue
North Vancouver, British Columbia ....

 

[MarkOttawa]

The announcement:

Harper Government Celebrates Start of Construction of First Offshore Fisheries Science Vessel
http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=990919

But see:

New Canadian Coast Guard Vessels: Sticker Shock and Never Never Land (media scrutiny?)
https://cgai3ds.wordpress.com/2015/06/15/mark-collins-new-canadian-coast-guard-vessels-sticker-shock-and-never-never-land-media-scrutiny/

As for JSS--he would, wouldn't he?

Vancouver shipbuilding CEO downplays worries about gov't strategy
http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/vancouver-shipbuilding-ceo-downplays-worries-about-gov-t-strategy-1.2438434

Mark
Ottawa

 

[FSTO]

I see that CTV got a hold of the PPT presentation that the JSS project desk gave to the Senior Review Board. This same brief is available on the DWAN through the site (I just forget the name, I'll provide the link when I get into work tonight) that contains all of the ongoing DND projects. As with any project brief, there will be a slide that has risk assessment that goes from bad to worse and COA's that will be considered to deal with said risks. Any PM worth their salt will have all the risks covered in their presentation.

All CTV did was cherry pick the worst case scenario. Good job! (and they wonder why they are seen to be as credible as a used car salesmen)

 

[PuckChaser]

Capability investment database is the name you're looking for, awesome page.

 

[FSTO]

Capability investment database is the name you're looking for, awesome page.

Thanks, old age and brain fart. Need to retire soon.

 

[FSTO]

Capability investment database is the name you're looking for, awesome page.

All the document links in the data base have now been blocked.
Thanks CTV.

 

[Allen]

CTV would have us believe the JSS project is all but cancelled. All based on their spin of a routine risk assessment. It must have been a slow news day.

 

[Retired AF Guy]

Frontline Defense Magazine has an update on the NSPS. Because the article is to big to post I'm just providing a link to the article.


NSPS Projects Status and Future Direction

 

[MarkOttawa]

Conservatives lose conservative paper:

National Post View: Are the Tories sound managers? Not of the Navy
http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/national-post-view-are-the-tories-sound-managers-not-of-the-navy

Mark
Ottawa

 

[jollyjacktar]

Nothing in the article was over stated, quite the opposite if anything.

 

[PuckChaser]

The whole NSPS is pork barreling, that's how our procurement system is designed. I don't understand how people would think the supply ship would be any different. We could have had ships years ago if it wasn't political suicide to have them built overseas and mission systems installed here.

 

[MarkOttawa]

Note this at "Defense Industry Daily" about building ships in Canada--five times too costly (Coast Guard in this instance, more links at article itself):

Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSPS)
...
Oct 7/13: More CCG Ships. Canada’s new Minister of Public Works and Government Services adds up to 10 Canadian Coast Guard ships to the NSPS, and a separate speech says “Vancouver Shipyards will be adding [the C$ 3.3 billion program] to its order books”. This addition would bring the NSPS’ planned total to C$ 38.3 billion, while fulfilling a FY 2012 budget commitment of $5.2 billion over 11 years to renew a very aged but necessary fleet. With that said, C$330 million for each of these 10 new ships is overpriced by a factor of about 5x, which is consistent with a comparison of Canada’s JSS project vs. Britain’s similar MARS/ Tide Class.

The new commitment would add up to 5 more Medium Endurance Multi-Tasked Vessels, which are ~65m, shallow draught ships that can lay/ emplace aids to navigation, and fill basic unarmed patrol and support roles.

Another 5 Offshore Patrol Vessels would be up to 75m long, but their focus would lean more toward fisheries protection than the long-range armed projection/ command and control role of larger OPVs like the Dutch Holland Class external link. They would also perform other basic patrol and support roles...
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/canadas-national-shipbuilding-strategy-07164/

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Just a question here, if someone knows the answer: Does the government report the cost of ships the same way that they report on, say, the acquisition of the F-35's. i.e. by reporting the full cost over the full life cycle of the ship, thus including any associated costs for maintenance, operation, refits and upgrades throughout the 35 years expected life duration?

If so, the would explain a good deal of the "five time" the costs from other nations that only report on the actual construction cost. And in such case also, the multiplication factor would obviously be greater for cheaper/smaller vessels than for the large ones.

 

[dapaterson]

AFAIK, the NSPS costs reported are acquisition costs, not lifecycle costs.  Note that acquisition costs include more than just steel and sensors - they include any infrastructure required for the new ships, the salary costs of personnel employed on the project, two years of spares, any new tooling required for shops, any new training equipment and materials...

 

[jollyjacktar]

IIRC the new ships were described including their life cycle costs etc with the respective yards providing maintenance and repairs (ala MCDV) as that is all part and parcel of the costs.

 

[Underway]

IIRC the new ships were described including their life cycle costs etc with the respective yards providing maintenance and repairs (ala MCDV) as that is all part and parcel of the costs.

True.

You also have to consider that places like the NetherlNds directly subsidize their shipbuilding industries through different methods.  The U.S., Australia and Canada do it through paying way to much for warships instead of direct payments to shipyards.  "This is not the pork barreling you're looking for..."