The Department of National Defence has formally accepted the Resolve-class naval support ship Asterix into the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) fleet following an intensive period of at-sea trials and testing.

The vessel has also entered full operational capability (FOC) with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).

Asterix conducted daily replenishment-at-sea (RAS) exercises with the Canadian Navy before being declared operational, in addition to carrying out extensive CH-148 Cyclone helicopter operations with the RCAF.

"The vessel’s RAS equipment was designed and developed by Hepburn, while the integrated platform management system was designed and installed by L3 MAPPS."

Davie Shipbuilding’s sister company Federal Fleet Services (FFS) previously completed the acquisition of MV Asterix as part of its ‘Project Resolve’ initiative in 2015.

The programme was intended to convert the vessel into an auxiliary oiler replenishment ship to allow it to deliver interim at-sea support services, which would help address the Canadian Navy’s at-sea replenishment requirements.



FFS chief executive officer Spencer Fraser said: “To deliver the first Canadian naval ship in over twenty years, the first supply ship in almost 50 years, and to reach FOC so efficiently and in such a short period of time is a testament to the hard work, dedication and dynamism of the teams at Davie and FFS.”

Fraser added: “We promised the government that we would fill a strategic gap in an expedited manner, that we would save the Canadian taxpayer money with our solution, and most importantly, that we would provide the men and women of the RCN and RCAF with a world-class capability they could be proud of.”

The vessel’s RAS equipment was designed and developed by Hepburn, while the integrated platform management system was designed and installed by L3 MAPPS.

The integrated bridge system was built by OSI.

Asterix is now ready for global deployment to provide assistance during combat and humanitarian operations supported by the Government of Canada.