New military vessel launched in B.C. bears illustrious naval name

Workers are seen on a lift beside the new Royal Canadian Navy Joint Support vessel before a launch and naming ceremony at Seaspan Shipyards, in North Vancouver, B.C., on Friday, December 13, 2024. The ship is scheduled to be delivered to the Royal Canadian Navy in 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

A Canadian Navy vessel with the name HMCS Protecteur will again set sail, nearly a decade after the last supply ship with its respected legacy was taken out of service.

The new joint support ship — the longest naval vessel ever to be built in Canada — was launched at a rainy ceremony at shipbuilder Seaspan's shipyards in North Vancouver, B.C., attended by dignitaries, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

It is the first of two joint support ships being built in British Columbia for the Canadian Navy, and Seaspan says work is "well underway" for a second vessel, the HMCS Preserver, scheduled for delivery in 2025.

The previous supply ship bearing the name was taken out of service in 2015 after a crippling engine-room fire in the waters off Hawaii the year before, marking the end of service for almost 46 years in conflicts, including the Gulf War.

Trudeau participated in the traditional christening ceremony on Friday, but it was HMCS Protecteur sponsor Teri McKinnon who swung and broke a bottle of champagne on the vessel after several previous attempts couldn't smash the bottle.

With the new vessel looming high over attendees, Trudeau called the launch a "historic moment," praising workers who built the ship as an example of Canada's greatest selling point in drawing investment globally.

"In a world that is so interconnected and so filled with opportunities and good places to go, people keep choosing to come and invest in Canada," Trudeau told the crowd in attendance.

"People keep showing up because of our greatest competitive advantage — that is Canadians themselves," he said. "Our workers are the best in the world. Smart, ambitious, driven, hard-working. They are the pitch we make when people everywhere around the world want a reliable partner."

Speaking after the ceremony, Royal Canadian Navy Commander Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee said it was an emotional day for naval officers to see the ship's name return to the sea.

"There's a tremendous legacy of 45 years of service of the original HMCS Protecteur, and so we're really proud to carry on that tradition," Topshee said.

"It was tough for us to have the fire on board Protecteur, but it's also a reminder that the business of going to sea is a difficult, risky and dangerous-at-times business. We always have to be vigilant and ready for fires or floods or other challenges at sea, let alone the threat and potential for warfare."

The Protecteur is the fifth vessel designed and constructed by Seaspan under the National Shipbuilding strategy launched in 2010.

Joint support vessels such as the HMCS Protecteur supply fuel, food, water and ammunition for other navy ships, allowing them to remain at sea for extended periods of time without needing to return to port.

The federal government said in a news release in October 2023 that the Protecteur would remain on the West Coast, while the Preserver will be based in Halifax.  

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2024.