HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Canada reportedly will use a British Columbia shipyard to maintain its small fleet of Victoria-class submarines.
The Herald Chronicle in Halifax said Friday that the government was negotiating solely with Canadian Submarine Management Group for a long-term contract to perform maintenance on the four Victorias at the Victoria Shipyard in Vancouver.
"It's not a contract award yet, but we've selected the consortium that will be doing the work," Mario Baril, a spokesman for Public Works and Government Services Canada, told the newspaper.
The consortium is a joint venture of Weir Canada and Devenport Royal Dockyard and currently does work on British nuclear subs. The Canadian contract could be worth as much as $1.45 billion over the life of the contract, which could last up to 15 years.
The deal would, however, create a scenario in which a Victoria boat on the east coast that requires repairs to travel through the Panama Canal and up the Pacific Coast to Vancouver.
Officials at Halifax Shipyard on the east coast of Canada told the newspaper they were disappointed in the development and were concerned on how it may affect their ongoing work on the HMCS Chicoutimi, which suffered an electrical fire in 2004 as it sailed from Scotland to Canada.
The Chicotumi is awaiting the next phase of the $100 million repair job to begin in 2010; however the navy now faces the prospect of transporting the sub to Vancouver aboard a heavy sealift ship.
The diesel-electric Victoria long-range patrol submarines were acquired from Britain where they were part of the Upholder class.
