The following is text of a news release from Seaspan Shipyards:
(VICTORIA, British Columbia) — Seaspan Shipyards has completed delivery of CCGS Capt. Jacques Cartier, the Canadian Coast Guard’s newest offshore fisheries science vessel (OFSV), the second OFSV delivered by Seaspan. This milestone in the shipbuilding process took place exactly five months and two days after the delivery of its sister ship, CCGS Sir John Franklin. These two ships are the first large vessels delivered under the National Shipbuilding Strategy, the government of Canada’s plan to renew the federal fleet with ships built in Canada for Canadians.
In addition to major partners like Thales Canada who are responsible for the vessel’s electronic systems and Vard Marine, Seaspan’s platform design partner, more than 600 Canadian small and medium-size companies and their thousands of employees across the country contributed to this vessel.
Measuring 208 feet, CCGS Capt. Jacques Cartier is one of the most advanced and capable ships of its size and type in the world. Fully equipped to support Fisheries and Ocean scientists in the collection and analysis of data on Canada’s marine ecosystems and the impacts of climate change, the vessel features a full suite of state-of-the-art systems, including high-tech fishing trawls and four science labs — a wet lab, a dry lab, an ocean lab and a control lab. The OFSV also has a deployable drop keel, loaded with a wide array of sensors to support the vessel’s research mandate.
From its home port in Atlantic Canada, CCGS Capt. Jacques Cartier will also support search and rescue operations and environmental response. A third OFSV under construction at Seaspan Shipyards is structurally complete and on schedule to be delivered in August 2020.
CCGS Capt. Jacques Cartier meets or exceeds international shipbuilding standards. It launched at over 90 percent complete and was delivered to Canada with significantly improved production durations when compared to CCGS Sir John Franklin.
