Halifax's first Arctic patrol ship to be pieced together this summer

Work on the Royal Canadian Navy's first Arctic offshore patrol ship will move outside this summer as large sections of the ship are welded together.

The large centre section ofHMCS Harry DeWolf is already assembled inside the four-football-field-long Halifax Shipyard building, saidCmdr. Maurice Tremblay,project manager of the Arctic offshore patrol vessel program.

The federal government is paying $2.3 billion to build six new Arctic patrol ships. The armed vessels will allow the navy to better carry out surveillance and enforce Canadian sovereignty. Irving Shipbuilding Inc. has been tasked with constructing the ships.

"This is a team sport so we are all learning, but from what we've seen it is moving in a very efficient way," said Tremblay.

'We have 3mega-blocks, like Lego'

The Harry DeWolf's bow and stern are in production andwhen those units are finished theywill be moved outside and joined together with the ship'scentre section.

"We're building units that become blocks and then mega-blocks. We have three mega-blocks, like Lego," said Tremblay.

Once put together, the final outfitting of the vessel's pipes, heaters and other internal workings will begin.

When finished, the HarryDeWolf will be 103 metres long, 19 metres wide and weigh 6,400 tonnes. The shipshould be seaworthy by next year.

'There are challenges'

The construction of all the vessels at the Halifax Shipyard are on schedule despite a few delays constructing the Harry DeWolf.

"A project like a lot of other things is a very dynamic environment so it's not without saying there are challenges but they are being worked around," said Tremblay.

The second ship,HMCS Margaret Brooke, is also under construction.Steel was cut for that vessel in August 2016.

About 10to 20 per cent of the Margaret Brooke is finished, said Tremblay. Construction of the third vessel, HMCSMax Bernays, is expected to begin later this year.

The last ship is expected to be finished by 2022.