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Assembly of Canada’s first Arctic offshore patrol ship on time and within budget is proving to be a “significant challenge” for the Irving Shipyard, though its top executive says a promised deadline will be met, the Canadian Press writes.

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Kevin McCoy said Wednesday his firm still plans to deliver the first of the ships designed to steam off Canada’s northern coasts in 2018, as originally announced.

However, he told reporters at a defence industry conference in Halifax that his firm’s efforts to create North America’s most modern shipyard from the ground up hasn’t been easy.

“Now I’ll tell you, starting a shipyard up from scratch … all new software, new training, over 700 new procedures in place, establishing a supply chain for shipbuilding in Canada, all of that is a significant challenge,” he said.

He also said he realizes that the new Liberal government is observing his company’s progress on the offshore patrol ships as precursor to the yet-to-be finalized contracts for the replacements for Canada’s aging warships.