Halifax Shipyard joins AOPS mega blocks indoors for the first time as final Coast Guard ship takes shape

Modular build moves under cover

Until now, the largest AOPS blocks were brought together outdoors. Moving the join into the module hall is expected to deliver gains in both schedule and build quality, with work no longer exposed to the North Atlantic weather that shapes construction in Halifax through autumn and winter.

The change reflects a broader shift towards modular shipbuilding at the yard, where ever larger sections of the hull are completed and assembled indoors before a ship reaches the water. Lessons from the AOPS programme will feed directly into the much larger projects that follow.

A design with Norwegian roots

The AOPS family, known in Royal Canadian Navy service as the Harry DeWolf class, traces its design back to the Norwegian Coast Guard vessel Svalbard. Canada adapted that ice-capable offshore patrol concept for its own Arctic and Atlantic needs, producing a hull able to operate in first-year ice while carrying out sovereignty, fisheries and search and rescue missions.

Six of the ships have already been delivered to the Royal Canadian Navy. The final two, CCGS Donjek and CCGS Sermilik, are modified for the Canadian Coast Guard and named after glaciers in Yukon and Nunavut.

Two Coast Guard ships close the programme

CCGS Donjek, the first of the pair, has already been launched at Halifax Shipyard. Construction of CCGS Sermilik began in July 2024 and its keel was laid in November 2025. The Coast Guard project has a budget of 2.1 billion Canadian dollars, with deliveries planned for 2026 and 2027 respectively.

Both ships are being built under Canada's National Shipbuilding Strategy, which has made Irving Shipbuilding the country's main builder of large combat and patrol vessels for the federal fleet.

Fisheries patrols, ice and search and rescue

The two ships will replace part of the Coast Guard's existing offshore patrol fleet. They are set to become the primary fisheries enforcement platforms on Canada's east coast, carry out Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization patrols and extend Coast Guard operations into the low Arctic thanks to their ice capability.

Their wider tasks include offshore search and rescue, environmental response, aids to navigation maintenance and icebreaking, giving the Coast Guard a single hull that can switch between missions over the course of a season.

Shipyard turns to River-class destroyers

With Sermilik, Halifax Shipyard completes its run of patrol ships, but its workload is set to grow. Ahead of the yard lies the construction of 15 River-class destroyers for the Royal Canadian Navy, and the indoor joining process proven on the final AOPS gives it a practical head start on that programme.