Vanguard Magazine

has a need for three of such vessels." Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Ser- vices and Procurement for Canada has said it has not solicited any offer from Irving. The ministry said any potential require- ments will be discussed through industry engagement and that proper government procedures will be observed. Irving's pitch gets praised Uncharacteristically, Irving's pitch was lauded by competing shipbuilder, Chan- tier Davie Canada Inc., of Quebec. "This is a great initiative from Irving Shipbuilding – this kind of unsolicited proposals, where industry takes what it has learnt in how to provide fast-track, cost-efficient solutions to address critical operational gaps, is exactly what is needed right now," Alex Vicefield, the chairman of Davie said in a recent statement. "Irving Shipbuilding is confirming what "irving's ProPosAl wAs lAuDeD By coMPeTing shiPBuilDer, chAnTier DAvie." s support SHIPS www.vanguardcanada.com JUNE/JULY 2016 27 has been universally recognized over the past months, including by the Government of Canada in the Canada Transportation Act review, that there are several classes of ships which Canada urgently needs and the current shipbuilding program is not capable of delivering," he said. Davie, of course, has resorted to similar tactics in the past. For example, the com- pany made an unsolicited bid, potentially worth $1 billion, to provide icebreakers and multi-purpose vessels to the coast guard shortly after Justin Trudeau became prime minister. An unsolicited bid – potentially worth up to $1 billion – to provide icebreak- ers and multi-purpose ships for the coast guard was submitted to the Trudeau gov- ernment late last month, The Canadian Press has learned. Davie employed the same approach when it offered to provide the navy with a temporary supply ship. That pitch to the Harper government netted Davie a multi- million dollar contract. Last December, the Liberal govern- ment announced it was granting Davie the sole-source contract to build a tem- porary supply ship for the navy. The contract, valued at up to $587 million, was initially awarded by the Conserva- tive government, but was put on hold by Trudeau when he was elected to office. It's not surprising that Davie would support Irving's proposal, since the MSS does not compete with the Quebec ship maker's temporary supply ship project. The two projects may even complement each other. The ship Davie is building is designed specifically as replenishment vessel, where- as Irving's MSS is meant for a more varied deployment. Sin título-3 1 01/02/2016 7:54:19

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