Canada orders seven hydrographic survey vessels

Kantor has supplied its Marine Guardian line of workboats for many government agency applications

APRIL 22, 2016 — Kanter Marine Inc. of St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, has won a C$5.3 million contract to build seven new survey vessels for the Canadian Hydrographic Service to support the seabed surveying and charting of Canada’s navigable waters.

The customized hydrographic survey vessels will be outfitted with permanent state-of-the-art multibeam sonar systems to help the Canadian Hydrographic Service continue to meet rigorous international standards for hydrographic surveys.

The sonars’ high-definition data are collected to produce detailed nautical charts that improve marine safety. The technology also supports science efforts in fisheries and oceans management, as well as habitat, species at risk, and invasive species monitoring.

The vessels are currently expected to begin construction immediately, with production and delivery to be complete by March 2017. Fisheries and Oceans Canada expects to take delivery of the first vessel by October 2016. The new survey vessels will be located in Mont Joli, Quebec; Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; Burlington, Ontario; and St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador