NewDock wins two ship Canadian Coast Guard VLE contract

Aerial view of NewDock shipyard

Canadian ship repairer NewDock (St. John’s Dockyard Limited), St. John’s, Newfoundland, has been awarded a CAD20.7 million (about US$16.6 million) contract to complete Vessel Life Extension (VLE) work on the Canadian Coast Guard Ships (CCGS) Cape Roger and Cygnus.

These two ships perform offshore patrol missions in support of international fisheries surveillance, and are available for search and rescue and environmental response operations on Canada’s east coast.

The VLE work will include regulatory inspections, installation of a new crane on each of the two vessels, hull blasting and coating, electrical replacement and refurbishments, overhauling of various components, and the replacement of piping, hull plating and deck steel.

The contract was awarded under the repair, refit and maintenance element of Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy.

CCGS Cape Roger and CCGS Cygnus are both stationed in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.

The VLE work will include two 5-month work periods, commencing with the CCGS Cape Roger in May 2021, followed by the CCGS Cygnus in November 2021.

• The CCGS Cape Roger and CCGS Cygnus are offshore patrol vessels capable of conducting various missions, including offshore patrol in support of fisheries surveillance. They can also support offshore search and rescue activities and environmental response when needed.

• CCGS Cape Roger is named for a cape on the western side of Placentia Bay on the island of Newfoundland. The ship was commissioned into the Canadian Coast Guard in August 1977.

• CCGS Cygnus is named after the constellation in the northern hemisphere Cygnus, or the Swan, which is also sometimes called the Northern Cross. In Greek mythology, Cygnus is the son of Poseidon, god of the seas.