HMCS Margaret Brooke was open for public tours today as part of Halifax Fleet Week. This marks the first public tours of an AOPS in Canada (HMCS Harry Dewolf was open to the public in Boston earlier this year.)
I have to say, she is a very nice ship, and it seems lessons from the Asterix were incorporated in the design of this ship.
the 4th AOPS, the future HMCS William Hall began her builders trials yesterday morning.
Just after 10am, the ship came off the dock and headed for the basin. In the afternoon William Hall sailed for the open ocean, and has been doing workups off Eastern Shore.
The three Mega blocks for the 5th AOPS are due to roll out next month.
AOPS #4, the future HMCS William Hall was moved onto the boa barge 37 today, and ready for its impending launch. the barge will be towed to the Basin, where it will be slowly submerged, until the William Hall floats off.
After launching, the ship will be moved along side Pier 7 at the ship yard for completion.
AOPS #3, HMCS Max Bernays was spotted tonight in the Graving dock at Halifax Shipyard. The ship was only delivered to the Navy in September, so it must be a recent issue.
HMCS Max Bernays is scheduled to be the first of the Pacific Based AOPS.
Halifax shipyard is looking to expand. The type-26 is a much larger vessel then was envisioned when the CSC project began, and as a result it needs more space. the size of the ship will require moving the paint booths outside, and the installation of a synchrolift.
to do this, the yard has applied to infill a portion of the harbour. From the Impact assessment release:
Irving Shipbuilding (ISI) is proposing to expand and modify site and facilities at the Halifax Shipyard. The Halifax Shipyard site expansion will include dredging, marine structures and rock infill behind the structure creating approximately 13 acres of additional yard space. The newly expanded area will not extend farther into the channel than the limits of the floating dry dock that was previously located at Halifax Shipyard
The shipyard owns a water lot, and that is likely what they are looking to infill. That lot is marked in black and is not an overly usable portion of the harbour. you can also see the pre-expansion shoreline marked.
At least one outlet is commenting that proposed infill will destroy the last remaining physical evidence of the Halifax explosion. Many people believe there is a large crater on the sea floor where the Mont Blanc exploded, however there is not.
Several years ago NRCAN produced a website looking at the harbour. part of that site, was a section devoted to Busting harbour Myths, including the fact that there is no crater from the explosion, which occurred at the point marked by the X in the survey image above.
AOPS #3, The Future HMCS Max Bernays began sea trials this morning in the basin. The ship should be heading out to sea later today.
The center mega block for AOPS #4 the future HMCS William Hall, was rolled out for the First time this evening. When i drove past at 7pm, they were just finishing, and removing the transporters.
Typically the Stern Mega Block follows the next day, and looks to be waiting in the right bay of the assembly hall.
William Hall’s bow section looks to be under construction in the left bay, behind where the first mega block was located prior to its roll out.
UPDATE 06/11: the stern Mega Block has now been rolled out.
Good morning from Halifax Shipyard. The centre and aft mega blocks of the future HMCS William Hall (AOPS #4) have been moved from our module hall to land level, where they will soon be joined together for further outfitting. #ShipsForCanada pic.twitter.com/kQSPXAbvSH
— Irving Shipbuilding (@IrvingShipbuild) June 11, 2022
Shelburne Ship repair has been sold by Irving Shipbuilding to Mersey Seafoods. Since 2014, Shelburne Ship repair has been the center of commercial ship repair work for Irving, with none happening in Halifax. Halifax shipyard has been focused on Building the AOPS, and frigate maintenance work.
All 67 employees at the yard will be retained by Mersey Seafoods. Shelburne Ship repair underwent significant upgrades in 2011, including a new marine railway. The total bill for the upgrades was 16milliion dollars. Shelburne Ship Repair can work on vessels up to 229 metres long, and the marine railway is capable of lifting two vessels weighing up to 4,200 tonnes each.
Since the Upgrade, the yard has conducted work on dozens of vessels including the refit on the CCGS Kolpit Hopson 1752, which was brought to Dartmouth for completion, Presumably to allow the sale to close with no work left in the yard.
Mersey Seafoods operates a number of Fishing Vessels, and is based in Liverpool Nova Scotia. Their trawler Mersey Phoenix is currently undergoing a work period in Spain.
The sale could signal that Irving is looking to focus solely on Government work under the NSPS, or they could be looking to do more repair work in Halifax. Halifax Shipyard is set to conduct its first commercial ship repair work in a number of years.
The yard is scheduled to conduct maintenance and Inspections on four Atlantic Towing platform supply vessels supporting the Hibernia and Hebron projects off Newfoundland. The Atlantic Shrike, Atlantic Griffon, Atlantic Heron, and Paul A Sacuta were constructed in 2016 and entered service in 2017. The 4 ships are built to Daemen’s PSV 5000 Design, and are virtually identical, though the Paul A Sacuta features an 100ton capacity offshore crane.
The coasting trade application indicates that each ship will be lifted out of the water for 7 days, and the 4 ships will be done sequentially, between February 15th at the earliest and concluding by May 31. The ships are due for their 5 year class surveys.
HMCS Montreal on the sychrolift at the dockyard for maintenance. I understand that there is not currently a dry facility in Halifax capable of maintaining the new AOPS, nor the Type 26 CSC. The Navys future fleet will necessitate some upgrades at the dockyard, and Halifax Shipyard.
Halifax Shipyard of course was able to accommodate panamax vessels until it retired and sold the NovaDock, which is now in service at International ship repair in Tampa Florida. That dock was owned by the province, and leased to the yard, untill it was quietly transferred to the shipyard as part of ships start here. Halifax Shipyards then sold it, claiming it was in disrepair.
AOPS #3, the future HMCS Max Bernays moved into the basin for launch this morning. The barge will now be submerged over the coming hours, with AOPS #3 likely being floated off late this afternoon or early in the evening.
