Canada’s 56-Year-Old Heavy Icebreaker Goes for Another Life Extension – The Maritime Executive

Louis S. St-Laurent during a previous refit at Davie (Chantier Davie)

PublishedMar 14, 2022 3:54 AM by The Maritime Executive

Canadas largest icebreaker,Louis S. St-Laurent, is set to undergo major repair, refit and maintenance work to extend its lifespan and keep the ship in service, giving Canada more time forthe construction of two replacement icebreakers.

Public Services and Procurement Canadahas awarded a $12.8 million contract to Chantier Davieshipyard in Quebec to carry out the vessel life extension. The project is a part of Canada's National Shipbuilding Strategy, which involves (among many other projects) the construction oftwo polar icebreakers. The timetable calls for deliveringat least one polar icebreakerby 2030, whenLouis S. St-Laurentis expected to retire from service.

Members of CCG have the critical responsibility of ensuring mariners safety and that of the marine environment. TheLouis S. St-Laurenthas helped keep Canadian waters safe for navigation for more than 50 years, and this work will ensure the CCG can continue this important work, season after season, in dangerous and icy conditions, said Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and CCG.

Chantier Davie is the only facility in Eastern Canada with a dry dock large enough to perform thework.Repairs and upgrades on the icebreaker willbegin in the spring and are expected to be completed within three months. More drydockingsare planned over the next few years to keep the vessel running throughout the next decade.

Louis S. St-Laurentwas launched in 1966, making her among the oldest working government vessels in North America - even older than the U.S. Coast Guard's heavy icebreakerPolar Star. This is far from her first life extension: she was lengthened, re-engined and heavily modified in a refit in the late 1980s. Today she provides icebreaking and emergency response services in Eastern Canada, and her home port is in St. Johns.

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Canada's 56-Year-Old Heavy Icebreaker Goes for Another Life Extension - The Maritime Executive