Steel-cutting ceremony starts construction for third Canadian Navy AOPS

Canadian shipbuilder Irving Shipbuilding has conducted a steel-cutting ceremony to mark the start of construction on the Royal Canadian Navy’s third arctic and offshore patrol ship (AOPS), the HMCS Max Bernays.

To be built at the Halifax, Nova Scotia shipyard, the 103-metre ships will displace 6,440 tonnes and carry a crew of up to 65 people, plus an additional 22 to support a naval boarding party, army troops, special operations forces and other government departments to support science and research.

The ice-capable ships are designed to conduct sovereignty and surveillance operations in Canada’s ocean areas of interest, including the Arctic.

The future HMCS Max Bernays follows its predecessor ships HMCS Harry DeWolf and HMCS Margaret Brooke.