New interim icebreakers to have homeports in Nova Scotia, Quebec

Canada's two new interim icebreakers will be based in Dartmouth, N.S., and Quebec City, the federal government announced on Tuesday.

CCGS Jean Goodwill, named for one of the founding members of the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada, will be based in Dartmouth,and CCGS Vincent Massey, named after the first Canadian appointed to be Governor General, will be based in Quebec City.

The two icebreakers will be used in Atlantic Canada, the St. Lawrence, the Great Lakes and the Arctic.

The ships are being refitted to bring them up to meet Canadian regulatory standards for icebreakersat the Chantier Davie shipyard in Levis, Que. CCGS Jean Goodwill is expected to be available this fall, while CCGS Vincent Masseywill be ready in the summer of 2020.

The refit work includes the installation of coast guard electronics systems, replacing some safety equipment and painting the vessels the coast guard's red and white.

A third interim icebreaker, CCGSCaptain Molly Kool, was finished in December and is based in St. John's.

The ships are intended to support the Coast Guard's fleet while vessels are being repaired.

Ottawa also announced Tuesdaythe Davie shipyard was awarded a $7.2-million contract for the dry-dock refit of the country's largest and oldest icebreaker, CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent, based in St. John's.

That ship was commissioned in 1969 and was supposed to be replaced in 2017 by CCGSJohn G. Diefenbaker. The completion date of the Diefenbaker has been pushed back to 2023 and the cost for that project has doubled from the initial estimate to more than $1.4 billion.