Coast Guard ship suffers two breakdowns ahead of refit

A Canadian Coast Guard vessel, that was forced to abort a science mission off Newfoundland this fall because a generator failed, suffered another mechanical breakdown while it was tied up for repairs in St. John's.

The Coast Guard said CCGS Alfred Needler will be ready to resume East Coast service in 2023 once emergency repairs are completed.

The 40-year-old offshore fisheries science vessel was forced to end "mission critical" operations this fall when a generator that powers its trawl winch failed on Nov. 18. The winch hauls the nets used in fish surveys .

CCGS Needler was sent to the Coast Guard base in St. John's. 

A fitting on the tank that stores compressed air subsequently failed on Nov. 23..

The air receiver, or air bottle as it is known, is a large container that stores compressed air that's used to start the main engines.

"An analysis was conducted onboard and confirmed that normal vibrations caused a misalignment of the fitting which weakened the connection," Coast Guard spokesperson Stephen Bornais said in a statement.

There were no reported injuries when the fitting on the highly pressurized tank let go.

That equipment has since been repaired and CCGS Needler was able to return to Dartmouth on the weekend.

Repairs to the generator are underway and expected to be completed by mid-February, Bornais said.

It was the second time in four years the winch generator failed.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is responsible for the Coast Guard. The department initially did not respond to a request for comment, but after the story was published, responded to say repairs to the generator are expected to cost $140,000, while repairs to the air receiver cost approximately $15,000.

Will cost $4.2M to keep ship at sea

CCGS Needler was supposed to retire at the end of December.

Instead it is scheduled to enter a refit in January to keep it in service until June 2023.

The total cost of the refit is $4.2M, which the department said includes $3.7M for all regular operating costs over that period and $500,000 for routine annual maintenance and the corrective maintenance to the generator and air receiver from early January to mid-February.

The ship is needed to carry out more "mission critical" comparative fishing alongside its replacements, two new offshore fishery science vessels stationed on the East Coast.

Comparative fishing involves the new and old ships repeatedly fishing side by side over wide areas.

The differences between each vessel's trawl performance are calibrated to ensure continuity in DFO's data, which is key to tracking long-term changes in the ecosystem.

CCGS Needler was carrying out comparative fishing when the generator failure knocked it out of service.

Breakdowns, unplanned maintenance and refits on both new and old fisheries science vessels forced Fisheries and Oceans Canada to postpone the planned retirement of CCGS Needler on Dec.31, and of the 34-year-old CCGS Teleost that had been set for March 2023.