BAE Systems and Irving Shipbuilding Inc. have formed a joint venture in order to bid on the in-service support program for the Canadian Navy’s Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) and Joint Support Ship (JSS).
The in-service support program is abbreviated to AJISS.
Both companies hope that Canadian Naval Support Limited (CNS), as the joint venture is called, will be successful in winning the CAD$5 billion ship-maintenance contract.
AOPS and JSS ships were initially supposed to be maintained by different contractors, but in July this year, the government of Canada announced a decision to combine fleet support contracts for the two new ship classes.
“CNS has the ability to give the Royal Canadian Navy the confidence it needs as it deploys ships to some of the toughest environments on earth. We take great pride in ensuring that the men and women of the Royal Canadian Navy can rely on their ships and equipment to keep them safe and bring them back home,” a BAE Systems press release said.
The new Queenston-class support ships are based on the ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems Berlin-class AOR and will be built by Seaspan in Vancouver.
Harry DeWolf-class Arctic offshore patrol vessels are currently under construction by Irving Shipbuilding with the lead ship in the class, HMCS Harry DeWolf, scheduled for delivery in 2018.