Canadian Victoria Class Submarine Support

Canadian Victoria Class Submarine Support

In 2005 Canada issued a tender for the Victoria In-Service Submarine Contract (VISSC).  The scope of the VISSC included:

  • Project Management
  • Records and Logistics Support
  • Engineering Support
  • Maintenance Support

As the UK leader for In-Service Submarine Support, Babcock teamed with Weir (Canada) to bid in Joint Venture (JV) for the contract and the JV was awarded the contract in July 2008.

The JV was re-branded in 2011 to Babcock Canada Inc, a division of the Babcock International Group of companies.

Babcock Canada now has established facilities in Victoria, BC, Halifax, NS and Ottawa, ON to deliver the 15 year contract.

The delivery team comprises experienced Canadian project managers and engineers, as well as secondees from Babcock’s parent company in the UK, which has direct experience of the processes and systems to support the Royal Navy’s submarine fleet.

HMCS CHICOUTIMI

HMCS CHICOUTIMI, the first submarine to undergo an Extended Docking Work Period (EDWP) managed by Babcock, originally entered her EDWP in 2010 at Victoria Shipyards in Esquimalt. The EDWP consisted of a collection of planned maintenance repair specifications and engineering capability updates that required the submarine to be out of the water, allowing the vessel to be checked, re-validated and updated.

In December 2014, Babcock Canada handed over HMCS CHICOUTIMI back to the Royal Canadian Navy following the successful deep maintenance period.

This milestone marked the first of the Victoria-Class submarines to undergo a deep maintenance period managed by Babcock Canada through the Victoria In-Service Support Contract (VISSC), and the first Canadian naval vessel to have an EDWP conducted by the RCN’s industry partners.

Babcock is an ongoing success story and is providing the Canadian Navy with the high quality of support services it was looking for when it initiated the VISSC process.