Canadian Arctic Security

2014, Canada announced the first AOPV, to be named Harry DeWolf, with plans to build five more vessels in the coming years – Margaret Brooke, Max Bernays, William Hall, Frédérick Rolette, and Robert Hampton Gray.

The first vessel in the class, HMCS Harry DeWolf was delivered to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in June 2020, and commissioned into the fleet in June 2021. Margaret Brooke was commissioned to the fleet in October 2022, and Max Bernays and William Hall were commissioned in May 2024.

This should be a positive move towards Arctic sovereignty for Canada, but since the launch and commissioning of HMCS Harry DeWolf there have been nothing but problems and maintenance for all vessels in its class.

Timeline of Issues:

• June, 2020: HMCS Harry DeWolf launches and Forbes publishes an article slamming Canada’s first AOPV. “Her only organic weapon is a 25-millimeter cannon on her forward deck”, states the author¹. The rest of the world looks on as Canada’s first naval vessel produced in decades comes up short of expectations.

• October, 2020: Two months after HMCS Harry DeWolf was commissioned into the fleet, it experienced a breakdown of its freshwater generator, communications systems, and cooling pumps on two of the ship’s four diesel generators².

• December, 2022: RCN announces HMCS Harry DeWolf is out of service until April 2023 due to ongoing mechanical problems. It’s expected the problems are linked to enging cooling systems, which may also affect HMCS Max Bernays and Margaret Brooke³.

  HMCS Max Bernays, which joined the fleet three months prior, is also noted as being out of commission due to a malfunction in the systems that allow the vessel to properly manoeuvre.

• March, 2023: The previous ‘mechanical problems’ with HMCS Harry DeWolf are reported as having been a generator failure that forces the vessel to cancel its Far North sail in 2022, returning home to Halifax. Additional issues identified consist of failures in the engine cooling systems as well as the drinking water systems – which are found to have contained lead⁴. It is also noted that taxpayers will end up footing the bill as the warranty with Irving Shipyard – the builder of all AOPV’s – has expired for the Harry DeWolf.

• February, 2024: Maintenance costs for the AOPVs continue to spiral. A new list of issues with the vessels includes: flooding of interior compartments, inoperable deck cranes, out-of-spec towing equipment, inadequate anchar holding power, and incompatible helicopter landing pads.

  Some of the early hulls – no longer just HMCS Harry DeWolf – are also at the end of their warranty period with Irving Shipyard. Irving describs these issues as, “a normal but essential element of shipbuilding”⁵.

  

  Video from a sailor onboard HMCS Harry DeWolf, 2024

“Military personnel, both retired and serving, came forward to this newspaper to challenge claims by National Defence that AOPS issues, including drinking water with higher than average levels of lead, are simply teething problems associated with all new vessels”⁶.

Taxpayers will end up spending almost $5 billion on the new ships for the RCN, and their goal of showing sovereignty and providing security within Canada’s Arctic region and its residents has been met with failure after mechanical failure.

1. Forbes, “Nice New Patrol Ship You’ve Got There, Canada—It’d Be A Shame If Somebody Sank It”, June 2020.
   https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2020/06/25/nice-new-patrol-ship-youve-got-there-canada-itd-be-a-shame-if-somebody-sank-it/ ↩︎
2. Global News, “Navy investigating unexplained breakdown on brand-new Arctic patrol vessel”, October 2023.
   https://globalnews.ca/news/7414969/navy-investigating-breakdown-aops/ ↩︎
3. Ottawa Citizen, “Navy’s new Arctic ship sidelined until April because of mechanical problems”, December 2022.
   https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/navys-new-arctic-ship-sidelined-until-april-because-of-mechanical-problems ↩︎
4. CTV News, “Ottawa will pay for repairs to Navy’s new Arctic ships due to expired warranty”, March, 2023.
   https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/ottawa-will-pay-for-repairs-to-navy-s-new-arctic-ships-due-to-expired-warranty-1.6301443 ↩︎
5. Maritime Executive, “More Problems Identified Aboard Canada’s Ice-Class Patrol Vessels”, February, 2024. https://maritime-executive.com/article/more-problems-identified-aboard-canada-s-arctic-patrol-vessels ↩︎
6. Toronto Sun, “Royal Canadian Navy’s new Arctic ships have a severe flooding problem, sailors say”, March, 2024.
   https://torontosun.com/news/national/defence-watch/royal-canadian-navys-new-arctic-ships-have-a-severe-flooding-problem-say-sailors/wcm/0c1f0084-f867-4760-a3b8-2d65b91381a9?taid=65e87df1231d150001718eee&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter ↩︎