Statement by Davie Shipbuilding regarding a second interim supply ship - MV Obelix

LÉVIS, QC, Jan. 28, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ - Last Friday, the Right Honourable Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau told an audience in Quebec City that the Canadian Armed Forces did an assessment and concluded that there was no need for the second supply ship proposed by Davie Shipbuilding. Based on media reports, this assessment was conducted in 2014, when the delivery date for the Joint Supply Ships was still 2019.

Davie Shipbuilding thanks the Prime Minister for his continued support for Davie workers and his commitment to making decisions based on facts and evidence.

To that end, we note that on 30 May 2018, the Acting Vice Chief of Defence Staff told a Parliamentary Committee, "We never really looked at the need for or validated the need for a second interim AOR."
https://sencanada.ca/en/Content/Sen/Committee/421/NFFN/68ev-54120-e

Additionally, the requirement for a second supply ship for the Royal Canadian Navy was studied by both the Senate and House of Commons permanent defence committees in 2017 and both committees unanimously concluded that Canada should procure a second interim supply ship from Davie to meet the operational requirements of the navy.

Given the statement from the Acting Vice Chief of Defence Staff, two parliamentary reports and documents provided by the Department of National Defence which confirm that the Joint Supply Ships will not achieve Full Operational Capabilities until 2025, there clearly remains a need for Obelix.
http://forces.gc.ca/en/about-reports-pubs-report-plan-priorities/2018-status-report-transformational-crown-projects.page#jointsupportship

To that end, we would request that the Prime Minister conduct an independent third-party analysis of the utilization rate of the current supply ship, MV Asterix, and the exact time when the Joint Support Ships to be delivered from the Vancouver shipyard will achieve Full Operational Capability. This analysis should be concluded in an expedited timeframe (30 days) so that we can get on with providing the women and men of the Royal Canadian Navy the equipment it needs to carry out the job the government asks them to do, both in Canada and abroad.

NOTE TO EDITORS: 
About Davie

Davie and Federal Fleet Services are part of the Inocea group. While Davie focuses on shipbuilding, Federal Fleet concentrates on obtaining contracts and on vessel rental. Davie is Canada's largest and most experienced shipyard. It is also the highest capacity shipyard in Canada, with 50% of the country's total capacity. Over the last six years, Davie generated more than 2.7 G$ in economic impact in Canada and employed, up until recently, directly and indirectly, over 3 000 Canadians, including 1 400 at the Lévis shipyard, in the province of Quebec. For over a century, Davie has been in charge of the construction and the repair of each major vessel class. Today, Davie is a leader in the icebreaking, LNG and dynamic positioning technology fields, as well as in naval and other crucial shipbuilding domains. Davie is an ISO 9001:2015 (quality assurance) and ISO 14001:2015 (environmental management) certified company. The first replenishment ship built by Davie, the Asterix, was the first naval vessel to join the ranks of Green Marine, the most important environmental certification voluntary program for North America's marine industry. 

SOURCE Davie Shipbuilding

Frederik Boisvert, Vice President, Public Affairs, Chantier Davie, Cell phone: [phone], [email protected]