OTTAWA — The Canadian Coast Guard is adding a new ship to its fleet, so to speak, as the federal government announced Wednesday it is paying $45 million to purchase a second-hand icebreaker that has been working in the Caspian Sea.

The decision to purchase the Mangystau-2 light icebreaker is meant to ensure the coast guard has enough working ships to keep Canada’s waterways open, Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray said in a statement announcing the move.

“The purchase of this light icebreaker will allow for the continued delivery of Coast Guard services, while ensuring the existing fleet can be repaired and renewed,” she said.

“This purchase will ensure vital shipping routes remain navigable year-round while generating good jobs in our Canadian shipyards.”

The coast guard’s existing icebreaker fleet is extremely old, which has resulted in several breakdowns in recent years. 

The Canadian Press has previously reported on the impacts of that aging fleet, including disruptions to search-and-rescue efforts, ferry services and Arctic resupply runs, as well as millions in lost navigational buoys.

Yet while the federal government has tapped Vancouver-based Seaspan Shipyards and Chantier Davie in Quebec City to build replacements for the fleet, those new ships are still years away from being delivered.

The Mangystau-2 is being purchased from New Brunswick-based Atlantic Towing Ltd. and will travel from its home port in Turkmenistan to a new temporary home in Prescott, Ont., by the end of the year, according to the government.

The $45 million price does not include refurbishments, and the government says bids on a contract to reconfigure the icebreaker to meet the coast guard’s needs will be launched next year.

The Mangystau-2 is actually the fourth used icebreaker the Liberal government has purchased for the coast guard. It previously announced a $610-million deal with Davie in August 2018 to purchase three medium icebreakers as “interim” vessels.

However, senior coast guard officials have since said they intend to use those medium icebreakers — which were purchased without a competition — for 15 to 20 years, while the overall price of buying and converting the ships has skyrocketed to $912 million.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced negotiations for that contract during a radio interview in Quebec City in early 2018.

Trudeau's announcement at the time coincided with concerns about a shortage of icebreakers given the age of the coast guard's existing fleet and the fact the government had yet to complete a plan for when and how it would replace them.

But it also followed an intense lobbying campaign by Davie, the Quebec government and federal opposition parties for Ottawa to give the shipyard work, and Trudeau's on-air announcement surprised many — including the company and coast guard officials.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 10, 2021.

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press