Polar 8
Encyclopedia
The Polar 8 Project was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
shipbuilding project based upon a class of 167-metre, 101,000-horsepower, diesel-electric powered high endurance icebreakers (polar class
Polar class
Polar class refers to the ice class assigned to a ship by a classification society. A Polar class ship refers to a ship for which a Polar class has been assigned....
PC 1) intended for the Canadian Coast Guard
Canadian Coast Guard
The Canadian Coast Guard is the coast guard of Canada. It is a federal agency responsible for providing maritime search and rescue , aids to navigation, marine pollution response, marine radio, and icebreaking...
. The project was developed as a means to assert Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
. It commenced in 1985 but was cancelled in 1990 while still in the final design stage.
The Polar 8 Project was proposed to Parliament in 1985 by the new Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
administration of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
. It was Canada's direct response to the unauthorized transit through the Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
in summer 1985 by the USCGC Polar Sea, a United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
icebreaker.
The Polar 8 Project was originally designed to be nuclear-powered, however this was subsequently down-graded to a conventional diesel-electric power plant. The ship would be equipped with two transport helicopters, 2 LST (auxiliary landing vessels), 4 life rafts, and possibly 2 hovercraft.
Project cancellation
The massive 1989 federal budget cuts saw funding for the Polar 8 Project reduced and eventually it was cancelled in 1990, only two months before construction was scheduled to begin. The ships were to have been built at Versatile Pacific ShipyardsBurrard Dry Dock
Burrard Dry Dock Ltd. was a Canadian shipbuilding company headquartered in North Vancouver, British Columbia . Together with the neighboring North Van Ship Repair yard and the Yarrows Ltd...
in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
at a cost of $700 million CAD each.
The CCG had delayed critical modernization upgrades that had been planned for its Gulf-class icebreaker, the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent
CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent
CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent is a Canadian Coast Guard Heavy Arctic Icebreaker.Named after the twelfth Prime Minister of Canada, The Right Honourable Louis St. Laurent, PC CC QC LLD DCL LLL BA. The vessel is classed a "Heavy Arctic Icebreaker" and is the largest icebreaker and flagship of the CCG. It...
during the late 1980s while the Polar 8 Project was underway. Following the Polar 8 Project cancellation, CCG funded the modernization overhaul and hull extension of the Louis S. St-Laurent in order to maintain a strategic presence in the Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
. CCG has also purchased a former commercial icebreaker, the CCGS Terry Fox
CCGS Terry Fox
CCGS Terry Fox is a Canadian Coast Guard Heavy Gulf icebreaker.Named after the late cancer research activist Terry Fox, the vessel was built in 1983 as MV Terry Fox by Burrard Yarrows Corporation in Vancouver, British Columbia. Terry Fox, along with her sister ship MV Arctic Kalvik supported Gulf...
, in 1992 as a stop-gap measure.
Epilogue
Arctic Patrol Ship ProjectThe federal government announced in 2007 that it would procure a fleet of 8 light icebreaker patrol ships for the Canadian Forces
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
. The Arctic Patrol Ship Project is based on a Royal Norwegian Navy
Royal Norwegian Navy
The Royal Norwegian Navy is the branch of the Norwegian Defence Force responsible for naval operations. , the RNoN consists of approximately 3,700 personnel and 70 vessels, including 5 heavy frigates, 6 submarines, 14 patrol boats, 4 minesweepers, 4 minehunters, 1 mine detection vessel, 4 support...
patrol boat design used in the Barents Sea
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...
with a polar class
Polar class
Polar class refers to the ice class assigned to a ship by a classification society. A Polar class ship refers to a ship for which a Polar class has been assigned....
of PC 5; thus they will be significantly smaller and less capable than what was envisioned in the Polar 8 Project, which would have extended the already legendary capabilities of the Canadian Coast Guard's operations in the Arctic Ocean. Some media and political sources termed these new patrol vessels with their limited ice capability to be mere "slush breakers".
Polar Class Icebreaker Project
The February 2008 federal budget announced a $720 million project to build a replacement for the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent
CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent
CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent is a Canadian Coast Guard Heavy Arctic Icebreaker.Named after the twelfth Prime Minister of Canada, The Right Honourable Louis St. Laurent, PC CC QC LLD DCL LLL BA. The vessel is classed a "Heavy Arctic Icebreaker" and is the largest icebreaker and flagship of the CCG. It...
in FY 2017; an August 2008 announcement stated that the vessel's name was to be CCGS John G. Diefenbaker. Many political and media sources incorrectly called this new vessel a "Polar Class Icebreaker", however this is a misnomer since all vessels classed by a classification society
Classification society
A classification society is a non-governmental organization that establishes and maintains technical standards for the construction and operation of ships and offshore structures...
as being capable of operating in sea ice must have a polar class
Polar class
Polar class refers to the ice class assigned to a ship by a classification society. A Polar class ship refers to a ship for which a Polar class has been assigned....
which can range from PC 1 through PC 7. Since the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent is classed PC 1, it is quite likely that the CCGS John G. Diefenbaker will be similarly classed.
The original $700 million per vessel pricetag of an icebreaker from the Polar 8 Project in 1985, when adjusted for inflation to 2008, would be approximately $1.3 billion, therefore it is quite likely that the CCGS John G. Diefenbaker will be a much smaller vessel than the Polar 8 Project envisioned, albeit larger than the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent.
See also
- CCGS Louis S. St-LaurentCCGS Louis S. St-LaurentCCGS Louis S. St-Laurent is a Canadian Coast Guard Heavy Arctic Icebreaker.Named after the twelfth Prime Minister of Canada, The Right Honourable Louis St. Laurent, PC CC QC LLD DCL LLL BA. The vessel is classed a "Heavy Arctic Icebreaker" and is the largest icebreaker and flagship of the CCG. It...
- CCGS John G. Diefenbaker
- CCGS Terry FoxCCGS Terry FoxCCGS Terry Fox is a Canadian Coast Guard Heavy Gulf icebreaker.Named after the late cancer research activist Terry Fox, the vessel was built in 1983 as MV Terry Fox by Burrard Yarrows Corporation in Vancouver, British Columbia. Terry Fox, along with her sister ship MV Arctic Kalvik supported Gulf...