New Canadian navy tugboats to enter service following two-year delay
![Canadian navy tugboats The new naval tugboats were built by Quebec-based Ocean Industries Inc. (Department of National Defence)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/8/12/canadian-navy-tugboats-1-6997774-1723485704783.jpg)
The first of four new tugboats built for the Royal Canadian Navy have arrived in British Columbia, two years behind schedule and nearly four years since the first steel was cut for the $102-million project.
The four-vessel fleet will be split between Canada's Pacific and Atlantic fleets, in Esquimalt, B.C., and Halifax, respectively, with the arrival of the two East Coast vessels currently delayed until November 2025 and September 2026.
The contract to build the new naval tugboats was awarded to Quebec's Ocean Industries Inc. in April 2019. The boats are expected to support the navy's newest vessels, including the Arctic and offshore patrol ships and the future River-class destroyers.
The tugboats were initially expected to launch in the fall of 2022, but the navy and Transport Canada required changes to their existing designs, which led to a "longer than expected" design review process, before construction could begin, a spokesperson for the Department of National Defence told CTV News in an emailed statement.
The project delays were further extended by ice conditions on the St. Lawrence River, where the vessel trials were staged, as well as by productivity losses during the COVID-19 pandemic and the bankruptcy of a company supplying winches for the boats.
"It is not uncommon for a first-of-class vessel to encounter supply chain and production challenges that impact delivery schedules," National Defence spokesperson Cheryl Forrest said in the statement.
"Canada is working with the shipbuilder to address these challenges and apply project lessons learned to the delivery of the subsequent vessels."
The newly arrived B.C.-based tugboats, named Naval Large Tug (NLT) Haro and Naval Large Tug (NLT) Barkerville, are now undergoing work at Victoria's Point Hope Maritime Shipyard before their final acceptance by the navy, which is expected later this month.
The vessels are significantly more powerful than the navy's current 1970s-era tugboats and will perform a variety of tasks, including towing, harbour berthing and firefighting duties.
The Haro is named for the Haro Strait, a waterway situated between southern Vancouver Island and the southern Gulf Islands, while the name Barkerville is taken from a Second World War-era tugboat, which capsized and sank off Pender Island in December 1945.
The remaining vessels destined for Halifax, the NLT Canso and NLT Stella Maris, will similarly take their names from the Canso Strait between Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, and the former Stella Maris tugboat, which was among the first emergency vessels to respond to the unfolding Halifax Explosion disaster in 1917.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.7033216.1726021317!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Kamala Harris goes on offence against Donald Trump in combative debate
Democratic U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris put Republican Donald Trump on the defensive at a combative U.S. presidential debate on Tuesday with a stream of attacks on abortion limits, his fitness for office and his myriad legal woes.
Key quotes from the Trump-Harris 2024 U.S. presidential debate
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris and former U.S. president Donald Trump took the stage on Tuesday night for their first and only scheduled presidential debate before the Nov. 5 election.
FACT CHECK: A look at the false and misleading claims made during the Trump-Harris debate
In their first and perhaps only debate, former U.S. president Donald Trump and U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris described the state of the country in starkly different terms. As the two traded jabs, some old false and misleading claims emerged along with some new ones.
Trump campaign falsely accuses immigrants in Ohio of abducting and eating pets
Former U.S. president Donald Trump’s campaign and his allies are amplifying false rumours that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were abducting and eating pets, another instance of the inflammatory and anti-immigrant rhetoric Trump has promoted throughout his campaigns.
U.S. presidential historian predicts results of November elections. Here's who he says will win
An American presidential historian is predicting a Kamala Harris presidency as the outcome of the upcoming U.S. elections in November.
Taylor Swift endorses Kamala Harris for U.S. president after debate ends
Taylor Swift, one of the music industry's biggest stars, endorsed Kamala Harris for president shortly after the debate ended on Tuesday night.
Some restaurants have increased their default tip options. Canadians think you should give this much
Despite what the default options on the payment terminal might read, most Canadians still want to tip around 15 per cent, according to a new survey.
Dave Grohl says he fathered a child outside of his marriage
The Foo Fighters frontman announced that he recently became a father again, writing in a statement on his Instagram page on Tuesday that his new baby girl was born 'outside' of his marriage to his wife Jordyn Blum.
$2M home belonging to children's musician Raffi on the market
Canada’s children’s troubadour is selling his B.C. home, which is now up for grabs for $1,995,000.