Canadian Coast Guard takes delivery of second OFSV

The CCGS Capt. Jacques Cartier is the second state-of-the-art offshore fisheries science vessel that Seaspan Shipyards has delivered to the Canadian Coast Guard in 2019. (CNW Group/Seaspan Shipyards)

Seaspan Shipyards’ Vancouver, B.C., shipyard has completed delivery of CCGS Capt. Jacques Cartier, the Canadian Coast Guard’s second Offshore Fisheries Science Vessel (OFSV). The delivery took place exactly five months and two days after the shipbuilder’s delivery of sister ship CCGS Sir John Franklin. The two ships are the first large vessels delivered under Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy.

In addition to major partners like Thales Canada which is responsible for the vessel’s electronic systems and Vard Marine, Seaspan’s platform design partner, more than 600 Canadian small and medium-size companies country contributed to the vessel.

Measuring 63.4 meters long, the CCGS Capt. Jacques Cartier is fully equipped to support Fisheries and Ocean scientists in the collection and analysis of data on Canada’s marine ecosystems and the impacts of climate change. The vessel features a full suite of state-of-the-art systems, including high-tech fishing trawls and four science labs — a wet lab, a dry lab, an ocean lab and a control lab. The OFSV also has a deployable drop keel, loaded with a wide array of sensors to support the vessel’s research mandate.

From its home port in Atlantic Canada, the CCGS Capt. Jacques Cartier will also support search and rescue operations and environmental response. A third OFSV under construction at Seaspan Shipyards is structurally complete and on schedule to be delivered in August 2020.

CCGS Capt. Jacques Cartier launched at over 90 percent complete and was delivered to Canada with significantly improved production durations when compared to the CCGS Sir John Franklin.