The Royal Canadian Navy has banned the consumption of alcohol on ships at sea, after three incidents of sailor misconduct last summer prompted an internal review.

Vice Admiral Mark Norman announced the ban, which is effective immediately, on Friday. He said the RCN will grant exceptions during special ceremonial occasions or when ships are anchored.

When consumption is permitted, additional safety measures will be put in place, including having a server present, he said.

As well, to encourage responsible drinking, the price of alcohol sold aboard RCN ships will be raised to closely to match the price of alcohol sold in the messes at CFB Esquimalt and CFB Halifax, Norman said.

He noted that other navies have similar policies in place. The U.S. navy, for example, is completely dry and only permits alcohol consumption under very special circumstances.

Recall of HMCS Whitehorse prompts review

In July, the HMCS Whitehorse was ordered home from an international maritime exercise in San Diego, after three incidents of sailor "personal misconduct" took place onshore.

At least one of the incidents involved the arrest of a Canadian sailor by local police, and the other two incidents involved allegations of sexual misconduct and shoplifting.

At the time, Norman ordered a senior officer to conduct a review of the RCN's policies and procedures regarding sailors' personal conduct while at sea and onshore.

On Friday, Norman said that the report concluded that while the RCN has a "tremendous reputation for excellence at sea, it relies "almost exclusively on informal practices to reinforce its expectations of its people."

The report made three key recommendations:

The RCN needs to provide clearer guidance on its expectations regarding the personal conduct of its officers and sailors;

The guidance needs to be reinforced through leadership and training;

The RCN training system needs to improve how it supports and reinforces existing conduct-related policies and procedures.

Norman said addressing these recommendations will help the RCN develop a code of conduct for its members.

"This code of conduct will be expressed in language consistent with our culture that all sailors will readily embrace irrespective of their rank," he said.

"Ultimately we all must conduct ourselves in a way that at all times supports our core value of being ready for service, and of serving Canada before ourselves."