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insiDe INDUSTRY
16 DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 www.vanguardcanada.com
by Tim Page
nsps and seaspan:
Photo: Seaspan
Building Canada's Maritime Future
T
he Canadian Coast Guard
(CCG) has long been an iconic
institution for those who live
and work in Canada's maritime
environment. Today, through the Na-
tional Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy
(NSPS), it has a golden opportunity to re-
invigorate public attention and enhance its
well-earned recognition for its mission. By
re-equipping the CCG with its next gen-
eration of science, icebreaker and patrol
vessels, NSPS is enabling it to promote
Canada's economic and security interests,
protect our marine habitat, ocean environ-
ment and the safety of mariners who work
in Canadian and international waters. The
new Liberal Government has recognized
the importance of the Coast Guard's work
by including its name in the job description
of the new Minister and highlighting fleet
recapitalization as a priority in the Minister
Tootoo's mandate.
NSPS was inspired by a desire to avoid
the boom and bust cycles that have de-
fined previous federal shipbuilding pro-
grams and should be applauded for its vi-
sion and its promise of strategic value to
Canada - having ships for Canada's federal
fleets built in Canada, by Canadians. The
apolitical, competitive process through
which it was managed has been widely
hailed by federal parties and independent
assessments as being objective, transpar-
ent and fair in its outcome to select two
ship yards to recapitalize the Canadian
Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy
fleets into the future.
Seaspan is proud to have won the NSPS
competition to build Canada's non-
combat fleets which includes an initial
total of 17 vessels - seven of which were
announced in 2012 and ten additional
vessels were committed to by the then
PWGSC Minister Diane Finley in Octo-
ber, 2013. Fifteen of the seventeen vessels
