The Canadian government awarded Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards a $230 million contract for design work on the Royal Canadian Navy’s Joint Support Ship (JSS).
Announced on February 28 by ministers of defense and public services and procurement, the contract will see the company develop and finalize the design of the Canadian Navy’s Joint Support Ship (JSS).
JSS construction is scheduled to begin in 2018.
The new joint support ships will provide fuel, ammunition, spare parts, food, and water to Canadian and allied vessels. The two Queenston-class ships, as the class will be named, will replace the Royal Canadian Navy’s auxiliary oiler replenishment vessels.
Judy M. Foote, minister of public services and procurement also took part in a steel-cutting ceremony for the third Offshore Fisheries Science Vessel (OFSV) being built for the Canadian Coast Guard. Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards now has all three of OFSVs under construction, with the first ship scheduled for delivery in early 2018.
“I am proud to be marking this major milestone in the JSS project and to see the Government honouring its commitment to the National Shipbuilding Strategy,” Harjit S. Sajjan minister of national defence said.
“By moving forward with this contract award we are getting one step closer to providing our brave women and men of the Royal Canadian Navy with the modern equipment they need to do the job that is asked of them.”