Canada names its long-awaited Joint Support Ship, HMCS Protecteur

HMCS Protecteur, the longest naval vessel ever built in Canada, was commissioned at Seaspan Shipyards on 13 December. It is the fifth ship to be designed by Seaspan under the National Shipbuilding Strategy.

The Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN’s) two Joint Support Ships (JSS), HMCS Protecteur and HMCS Preserver, have had a long and interrupted journey to development, having first been planned in 2013 as replacements for the Navy’s Protecteur-class Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment vessels.

In 2017, the procurement of the two new JSS was approved by the Canadian government and a C$2.4 billion (US$1.77 billion) contract awarded to Seaspan to deliver the vessels.

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The building of the ships then ran into two significant delaying factors, namely supply chain complications and the worldwide Covid pandemic, which meant that by June 2022, Canada’s procurement authority, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), had to announce delays to the delivery dates of both vessels.

HMCS Protecteur was pushed from 2023 and is now likely to enter service fully in 2025 and Preserver is likely to enter service in 2027.

The JSS will provide at-sea replenishment for the RCN fleet, but will also be able to integrate with either Canadian or allied task groups as required.

Bill Blair, Canada’s Minister of National Defence, said: “Joint Support Ships provide the Royal Canadian Navy with the essential capability to support naval task groups. These ships are an investment not only in defence but also in Canadian industry, workers and our economy.”

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