Cape Roger - rare visitor and Louis parked again

CCGS Cape Roger has been in and out of Halifax for the last week or so on an "exchange visit" from Newfoundland. Due to ice conditions in the Gulf of St.Lawrence, CCGS Sir William Alexander has been transferred to the Newfoundland region temporarily in exchange for Cape Roger

Cape Roger anchored off the old Coast Guard base this afternoon.

 

 

Built by Ferguson Industries in Pictou, NS in 1977 for $10 mn, Cape Roger is primarily a search and rescue and patrol vessel. At 966 gross tons and 205 ft long, she was large enough to land a helicopter, however this feature has now been dropped, and the flight deck is no longer usable.

The ship has been upgraded several times, including a major refit in Shelburne in 1966 and a $12 mn life extension refit at Seaway Marine and Industrial in St.Catharines ON in 2010-2011

The ship should be good for several more years of service since a replacement is in the far off future, and is not part of the National Ship Procurement Strategy, nor the subsequent small ship program.

This not the first time that Cape Roger has been assigned here. A similar exchange took place from February to April in 2003 when heavy ice saw the transfer of CCGS Edward Cornwallis to Newfoundland.

 

Meanwhile CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent is still parked at the BIO dock. The ship has been in port for a week or more.

 

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