Vanguard Magazine

ShipTech Forum 2025 ShipTech Forum 2025 ShipTech Forum 2025 RECAP 42 APRIL/MAY 2025 www.vanguardcanada.com B Y N O R M A N J O L I N O n 25 February 2025, Van- guard's 12th annual mari- time forum, ShipTech 2025, was held in Ottawa, with a theme of "The future of maintenance and capability sustainment". As with ShipTech 2024, the day-long conference was hosted in person, while simultaneously streaming virtually. Over 280 attended in person, and 70 virtually, spanning both government and industry, resulting in dynamic interaction which was only limited by the time available. The conference was opened with a key- note speech by Rob Gray, the Director- General Major Project Delivery (Sea) where he reviewed 15 years of the Nation- al Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) and the ac- complishments to date. He then discussed In Service Support and the critical need for industry input as they move towards a Continuous Capability Sustainment (CCS) model for maintenance. He was then fol- lowed by a panel discussion on horizontal tech insertion and service life extension of legacy systems in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and Canadian Coast Guard (CCG), moderated by Cmdre Keith Cof- fen, DND Director-General Maritime Equipment Program Management. The panel, representing serving senior naval and Coast Guard technical officers, as well as a classification society (ABS) discussed growing refit lengths and the associated S H I P T E C H F O R U M Photos: Elise Kelsey costs, obsolescence management of legacy systems and the importance of ensuring re- liability. The final thoughts were summa- rized by the need to maintain legacy fleets "faster, better and cheaper". Needless to say, all panellists were most interested in in- novative industry solutions to reduce time and costs. The morning then proceeded with tech- nical showcase by Automatic Coating Limited on corrosion resistant coatings and their application in the marine indus- try, specifically warships, followed by J- Squared on growing the Canadian supply chain in response to CAF recapitalization and sustainment. Following a network- Le to right: Adam Watt, Director Marine Engineering, ITS, CCG; Capt(N) Johnathan Plows, Director Maritime Equipment Program Management (Major Surface Combatants), DND; James Bond, Director, Polar Research and Government, ABS; Robert Gray, Director General Major Projects Delivery (Sea), DND; Cmdre Keith Coffen, Director General Maritime Equipment Program Management, DND

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