Vanguard Magazine

the ShipTech Forum 2023 38 APRIL/MAY 2023 www.vanguardcanada.com S H I P T E C H F O R U M B Y N O R M A N J O L I N H osting the conference in person, while simultane- ously streaming it virtually, it was possible to engage international expertise from Denmark, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as across Canada. Over 240 people registered for ShipTech, with 160 attending in person and 88 virtu- ally. The audience spanned both govern- ment and industry, resulting in an excel- lent interaction which was only limited by the time available. The one-day conference was kicked off with a stimulating keynote address by re- tired US Coast Guard Rear-Admiral Bruce Baffer where he stressed the need for a balanced design that can do all the things expected of the vessel - on both Atlantic and Pacific coasts. It also needs to be de- signed to cost, otherwise the ever evolv- ing "requirements" will quickly exceed the budget. His address was followed by the RCN's Director-General Naval Force Development, Commodore Jason Arm- strong, on the need for the "right fleet" to operate in all three oceans. While the DeWolf-class Arctic & Offshore Patrol ves- sels (AOPV) are beginning to enter ser- vice, he underscored that this class of ship is not a replacement for the Kingston-class Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels (MCD- Vs). At this time the naval staff is working on a strategic concept to define the num- bers, size and capability for a replacement of the Kingston-class by the end of the ON 28 FEBRUARY 2023, VANGUARD'S TENTH ANNUAL MARINE CONFERENCE, T H E S H I P T E C H F O R U M 2023, WAS HELD LIVE WITH THE THEME OF "NAVAL OFFSHORE PATROL VESSELS – CONSIDERATIONS IN DESIGN". HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2030s. He foresees a small vessel in the 1000-2000 ton range, that is internation- ally deployable, with a minimal crew and some self defence capability while leverag- ing autonomous systems. This vessel will be a significant change from the Kingston- class and the RCN needs industry help in order to advance the project. The first panel discussion of the confer- ence was on "The Modern Offshore Patrol Vessel" led by Derek Buxton from VARD, who gave a comprehensive presentation on the various types of OPVs in service throughout the world, which they design under the concept of "commercial where possible, military where necessary", using cost as a differentiator. He was followed by Rich Gravel from Heddle Shipyards who underscored the need for early involvement of the shipyard in the process; specifically, by keeping systems simple and maximizing modularity which will build in flexibility for future in-service maintenance support. Wayne Brewster from Thales then spoke from the perspective of the Electronic Sys- tems Integrator and the need to plan for adaptability in the design, noting the pref- erence for containerized solutions. Finally, Jens Flarup from SH Defence described the maritime modularity concept when there is a need to quickly change the capabilities of a ship without taking it out of service. While everything comes with a price, true modu- larity is a system, not simply a sea container, and once onboard, the ship needs to be able to handle the capability.

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