Irving Shipbuilding sets deadline of January for Arctic patrol ship work

HALIFAX – The president of Irving Shipbuilding Inc. says the company must start its engineering work on eight new Arctic patrol ships by January if the Halifax Shipyard is to meet its goal of cutting the first steel in 2015.

Steve Durrell set the deadline today during a briefing that marked one year since the federal government awarded the shipyard a $25-billion contract to build 21 combat vessels over 30 years.

Durrell says the company is still negotiating two contracts with Ottawa — one for design engineering work and the other for the actual construction of the patrol ships.

He also repeated his company’s promise to have the first patrol vessel built by 2018, which is already three years behind the original schedule.

The ships, first announced in 2007, were projected to cost $3.1 billion to build and $4.3 billion to maintain over their expected 25-year life cycle.

Durrell declined to say whether he thinks the costs would rise in the years to come.