Ottawa has unveiled two major domestic shipbuilding contracts for new polar icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard to use in the Arctic.
The federal government says it is awarding Davie Shipbuilding a $3.25-billion contract to start building one of the two modern polar icebreakers this year.
Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced that Chantier Davie Canada Inc. will manufacture the new ship in Lévis, Que., expected to be finished by 2030.
The other contract, announced on Friday and worth $3.15 billion, will be built by Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards, with construction scheduled to begin in April.
Seaspan said on Friday this marks the first time in decades that a polar icebreaker will be built in Canada.
The contracts are being granted through the National Shipbuilding Strategy, which is designed to renew the fleets of the Coast Guard and the Navy while at the same time fostering Canada’s shipbuilding industries.
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