Canada sub decision a big deal for B.C.-based Seaspan Shipyards

HMCS Victoria during sea training trials and exercises in 2012. Photo by Jacek Szymanski /DNPA Jacek Szymanski

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The dust has barely settled from Ottawa’s decision this week to select a German-Norwegian group to build new Royal Canadian Navy submarines, but B.C.’s Seaspan is already launching into the next round for its role in the deal.

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Seaspan, whose Victoria operations already do maintenance for the navy’s existing submarines, signed on as the “sovereign sustainment” partner to the German shipbuilder Thyssenkrupp Marines Systems’ (TKMS) bid.

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As TKMS begins negotiating a firm contract for the potentially $100 billion deal with the federal government to build as many as 12 submarines, Seaspan’s team has moved on to more formal plans for the maintenance facilities the fleet will need on both coasts for the “sustainment” part of the deal.

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“It is huge,” said Seaspan senior vice-president Dave Hargreaves. “It may well be, and probably will be, larger than the procurement.”

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Although the submarines, the latest version of TKMS’ diesel-electric attack subs, the 212CD, will be built in Germany, their bid included “sovereign sustainment” facilities, one in Colwood, part of Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, and one in Halifax.

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“The thing you have to remember is these submarines will have a design life of somewhere between 30 and 40 years,” Hargreaves said. “So you’re going to have all of those jobs, all of that supply chain, all of the work, for a very long period of time.”

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New submarines are expected to start arriving in 2034, with construction expected to take “several years,” Hargreaves said.

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The submarine procurement will add to Seaspan’s involvement with the navy. The company’s shipyard in Vancouver is building support ships for the navy and icebreakers, among a host of vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard under Ottawa’s national shipbuilding strategy.

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The decision to pick TKMS’ bid over South Korean shipbuilding giant Hanwha Ocean solidifies Canada’s ties with NATO allies Germany and Norway, which are each buying their own fleets of six 212CD subs.

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Shortly after unveiling the decision July 6 in Halifax, Prime Minister Mark Carney, at a NATO meeting in Ankara, Turkey, touted the commitment to buy new submarines as evidence that Canada is living up to its NATO-member promise to raise defence spending to five per cent of gross domestic product by 2035.

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Carney said Canada is “rapidly scaling our capabilities through historic investments,” including the promised submarine purchase, plans for new icebreakers, and planes for the Royal Canadian Air Force.

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Canada, along with European allies in NATO, had been on the receiving end of another round of criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump over the alliance’s perceived lack of support for his military action against Iran.

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Alliance members have moved to increase defence spending in response to Trump’s threats to leave NATO if they don’t, and Carney said his spending commitments make Canada “a stronger, more capable member of NATO.”