Naval vessel launched in B.C. is longest-ever built in Canada

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.

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.”