Davie Shipbuilding has received an approximately $8.2 billion fixed-price contract from the Canadian government to build six program icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard. The contract is valued at $11.3 CAD.
Construction of the first vessel is scheduled to begin in 2027 at Davie’s shipyard in Lévis, Quebec. The six icebreakers are expected to be delivered throughout the 2030s under Canada’s national shipbuilding strategy.
The vessels will replace Canadian Coast Guard heavy and medium icebreakers that operate in Atlantic Canada, the St. Lawrence waterways and the Great Lakes during the winter and in the Arctic during the summer.
The new fleet will be used to keep shipping routes open, support coastal and northern communities, conduct scientific missions and strengthen Canada’s maritime presence in the Arctic.
Davie said building six vessels of the same class will allow the yard and its suppliers to improve production processes as the program advances.
“This program represents a step change not only in scale, but also in how we build,” said Alex Vicefield, chairman and CEO of Inocea, Davie’s parent company. “Delivering multiple vessels within a class will allow our teams to continuously improve, develop new skills, and increase productivity with each ship we produce.”
