Following a
debilitating fire on HMCS Protecteur and because her sister ship, HMCS
Preserver, was deemed unfit to sail due to advanced corrosion, the Royal
Canadian Navy had been operating without supply ships, or AOR’s as underway replenishment
ships are known, since 2014.
Built in the
late 1960s these ships were the support backbone of the RCN, so their loss
significantly impacted the navy’s ability to deploy abroad. Since then, Canada has
relied on Chile to support the Navy on the West Coast for 40 days in 2015, and
Spain to support the Navy on the East Coast for 40 days in 2016. Of course
these vessels are really only available in peace time.
In a
November 2014 internal document the Navy outlined the requirements of an
interim supply ship noting that the Joint Support Ship being built at Seaspan
Shipyards in Vancouver “remains a critical component for achieving success in
both international and domestic” Canadian military missions.
That Joint
Support Ship was supposed to be delivered by Seaspan in 2017 but that schedule
slipped and the latest delivery
date for the first of two ships is now 2022-2023 .
Recognizing
Canada’s AOR deficit Federal Fleet Services Inc. (a sister company to Davie
Shipbuilding) submitted an unsolicited bid to the Canadian Government proposing
an interim AOR solution dubbed Project Resolve. On 30 November 2015, the
Government of Canada announced the signing of a contract with Federal Fleet
Services to develop the interim AOR capability. The contract entailed the
conversion of a commercial container ship (MV Asterix) into an AOR, the
provision of the ship’s crew, its overall operational management, and all
maintenance. The initial Provision of Services Agreement (PSA) outlines a lease
to Canada, which means a fixed, transparent cost to the Canadian taxpayer. The
PSA is for five years, with options to extend that period for another five
years and also an option for Canada to purchase the vessel.
The ship was
delivered on time and on budget to the RCN in late 2017, and was formally
accepted by the RCN on 6 March 2018 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, following an
intensive period of at-sea trials and testing. It is the first new supply ship
for Canada in almost 50 years.
With a Deadweight
tonnage of 23,792 DWT (DWT is the sum of
the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provisions, passengers,
and crew) and a length of 182.5 metres long Asterix features include four
STREAM-type RAS masts. Each of these stations is able to deliver fuel oil,
aviation fuel (JP5), and water. This means Asterix is able to refuel two ships
at a time (one on each side of the ship), and can also do dual-point RAS
forward and aft on the same side to provide liquids and solids simultaneously,
the latter via heavy jackstay. Asterix is also designed to carry two Sikorsky
CH-148 Cyclones and has 2 hangars capable of holding Chinook size helicopters.
The ship was designed to carry 15,500 cubic metres of F76 (Marine Diesel); 1,500 cubic metres of F44 (Aviation Fuel - also known as JP5); and 600 cubic metres of fresh water. Asterix also has the capacity to carry sea containers in two separate locations at the forward part of the ship. One location has the capacity to carry 20 standard-size sea containers of general cargo (which can also be refrigerated), many of which can be accessed from below decks. The second location can accommodate 18 sea containers of hazardous goods, including ammunition. These areas are protected from the elements, and are serviced by cargo elevators.
Federal
Fleet Services Inc. and Davie Shipbuilding have offered to build a second supply ship at a reduced
price. Asterix was built on time and on budget in a deal worth $659 million, a
second ship was priced, at the time, at $500 million in order to entice the government
to go ahead with such a purchase.
On Dec. 12 the
government was asked in the House of Commons why it was not moving ahead with acquiring
a second ship, to be called Obelix. At that time Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
was quoted as saying “The armed forces
did an assessment,” Trudeau said. “They
don’t need the Obelix.”
Asked about
the assessment, the Royal Canadian Navy referenced a November 2014
internal document which outlined the requirements of a interim supply ship. The
document was produced before a deal was reached on Asterix. The navy’s
statement noted that the Joint Support Ship being built at Seaspan Shipyards in
Vancouver “remains a critical component
for achieving success in both international and domestic” Canadian military
missions.
In fact statements from the Navy make it
clear that two support ships are being procured and that two ships are number
considered necessary to “renew the
capabilities of the two current Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment Ships that are
approaching the end of their service lives and need to be replaced”
Those joint
supply ships were supposed to be delivered by Seaspan in 2017. That schedule
slipped and the 2019 and 2020 delivery dates were proposed. The latest delivery
date for the first of two ships is now 2022-2023 but with the caveat attached “with
risk”, which means, government officials
have confirmed, that they could fall further behind schedule, government
officials confirmed to Postmedia.
It clear to
any observer that the Royal Canadian Navy needs at least two supply vessels.
Without a second supply ship in
the interim, the Navy will only be able to sustain operations offshore on one
coast for a matter of days. With two supply ship, it can sustain operations for
months.
In fact it
could be argued that in the long-term Navy needs four supply ships, two on each
coast. Four vessels would allow the Navy to have one vessel on high readiness
on each coast, while one was undergoing maintenance or on foreign deployments,
another could be standing by or on operations on both coasts.
What is not
clear is why the government failed to procure another Asterix class vessel.
Those reasons would appear to have as much to do with politics as they do with
a broken procurement system.ADDENDA,
It has been pointed out that the proper name for the ship is MV Asterix. NRU Asterix is the land-based unit (Naval Replenishment-At-Sea Unit) that generates the detachment of naval personnel who man selected equipment onboard, alongside the ship's civil crew.
Quebec's Davie offers second supply ship at reduced cost to entice Liberal government to buy
Joint Support Ship Design Decision
