This week, Cape Breton Canso MP Mike Kelloway and Central Nova MP Sean Fraser, celebrated the steel cutting milestone on the first of the two future Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships for the Canadian Coast Guard, marking the official start of construction of the vessel undertaken by Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax.

A release from the government states the Canadian Coast Guard’s new Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships will operate as a primary platform to support fisheries enforcement missions on Canada’s east coast, including Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization patrols. They will also support search and rescue and icebreaking operations on the east coast, and be able to support environmental response and aids to navigation, allowing greater flexibility and adaptability for the Canadian Coast Guard’s operations.

Kelloway said the shipyard was packed with workers.

The two ships are built under the National Shipbuilding Strategy’s large vessels construction pillar.