CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent

CCGS "Louis S. St-Laurent" is a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker.

Named after the twelfth Prime Minister of Canada, Louis St. Laurent, the vessel is classed a "Heavy Arctic Icebreaker" and is the largest icebreaker and flagship of the CCG.

Built in 1969 by Canadian Vickers Ltd. in Montreal, Quebec, CCGS "Louis S. St-Laurent" underwent an extensive and costly modernization at Halifax Shipyard Ltd. in Halifax, Nova Scotia between 1988-1993 which saw her hull lengthened as well as new propulsion and navigation equipment installed.

The modernization program was controversial as the government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney had initially proposed building the "Polar 8"-class of mega icebreakers for promoting Canadian sovereignty in territorial waters claimed by Canada; the USCGC Polar Sea had made an unauthorized transit of Canada's Northwest Passage in 1985 early in Mulroney's administration, provoking a strong nationalist out-cry across the country. However, budget cuts in the late 1980s saw proposed expansions of the coast guard and armed forces scrapped. In compensation to the coast guard, the government opted to modernize the largest icebreaker in its fleet, the CCGS "Louis S. St-Laurent".

She has been based at CCG Base Dartmouth in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia for her entire career. The vessel's current operation tempo consists of summer voyages to Canada's Arctic where she supports the annual Arctic sealift to various coastal communities and carries out multi-disciplinary scientific expeditions. During the winter months, CCGS "Louis S. St-Laurent" sometimes operates in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to aid ships in transiting to Montreal, Quebec, although she usually only serves this assignment during particularly heavy ice years.

In the summer of 2006 CBC's The National went on the Louis S. St-Laurent in a special series focused on climate change. [ [http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/northwest-passage/communities.html CBC News In Depth: Northwest Passage ] ]

The vessel was originally scheduled to be decommissioned in 2000 however a refit extended the decommissioning date to 2017. In the February 26, 2008 federal budget, the Government of Canada announced it was funding a $721 million Polar Class replacement vessel for CCGS "Louis S. St-Laurent". [cite news
url=http://www.budget.gc.ca/2008/plan/chap4a-eng.asp#sovereignty
title=Budget 2008: Chapter 4 - Leadership at Home and Abroad
page=
pages=
publisher=Government of Canada
author=
date=February 27 2008
accessdate=2008-03-04
quote=] cite news
url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2008/02/27/north-reax.html
title=Arctic icebreaker, fishing port, tax break a start: northerners
publisher=CBC News
date=Wednesday, February 27, 2008
accessdate=2008-03-04
quote=] cite news
url=http://www.nunatsiaq.com/news/nunavut/80229_964.html
title=Feds to replace old icebreaker
publisher=Nunatsiaq News
author=Chris Windeyer
date=February 29, 2008
accessdate=2008-03-04
quote=Ottawa will put aside $720 million this year to commission the icebreaker, which the government says will have better ice breaking capability than the Louis St. Laurent, considered the workhorse of the Coast Guard.] cite news
url=http://www.embassymag.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=/2008/february/27/icebreaker_deadline/
title=Icebreaker Replacement Deadline Looms: Despite $720 million in yesterday's federal budget, procurement for a new polar icebreaker will take eight to 10 years
publisher=Embassy, Canada's Foreign Policy Newsletter
author=Lee Berthiaume
date=February 27, 2008
accessdate=2008-03-04
quote=Despite setting aside $720 million in yesterday's budget to purchase a new polar class icebreaker, the government will be cutting things close if it wants to decommission the ageing Louis St. Laurent heavy icebreaker as scheduled by 2017, according to Canadian Coast Guard commissioner George Da Pont. ] cite news
url=http://nnsl.com/northern-news-services/stories/papers/mar3_08bud.html
title=Reaction mixed on fed's budget
publisher=Northern News Services
author=Brodie Thomas
date=Monday, March 3, 2008
accessdate=2008-03-04
quote=] cite news
url=http://www.southerngazette.ca/index.cfm?sid=113576&sc=382
title=Feds fall short: Ottawa must do more, politicians say
publisher=Southern Gazette
author=Tara Mullowney
date=March 4 2008
accessdate=2008-03-04
quote=...and $720 million in funding for the Coast Guard will translate into a polar class ice-breaker that will be based in Newfoundland......“This is a bigger boat, so you can add to that.”] cite news
url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/story/4132923p-4725670c.html
title=Red Amundsen our flag in white Arctic
publisher=Winnipeg Free Press
author=Bartley Kives
date=February 28, 2008
accessdate=2008-03-01
quote=]

References

External links

* [http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/vessels-navires/results_details_e.asp?name=LOUIS%20S.%20ST-LAURENT CCGS "Louis S. St-Laurent" details from the Canadian Coast Guard website]