To no one’s surprise MarineLog reports that Davie Shipbuilding, Lauzon, Quebec, Canada’s largest shipyard, has been selected as the third shipyard partner in Canada’s “National Shipbuilding Strategy” and will build six icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard.
Chuck Hill's CG Blog
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 
Davie has established a National Icebreaking Centre:
https://icebreakercentre.ca/
If you scroll down, there’s a download link for a PDF brochure which has more text and some info on a medium icebreaker concept they have developed.
The medium icebreakers are listed as “interim” could these be the ones they bought recently?
I see the “Program Icebreakers” are designed to be able to operate in the Great Lakes. 100-110 meters long; beam under
23.8m for Great Lakes; draft 6-8m. These may be medium icebreakers by the Coast Guard definition based on power? Were they the ones you were referring to?
“Interim Medium Icebreakers” refers to the three second-hand offshore icebreakers (Tor Viking, Vidar Viking and Balder Viking) purchased from Sweden and converted to Canadian Coast Guard service by Davie. As of today, only one has entered service with the Canadian Coast Guard (CCGS Captain Molly Kool) while the more extensive conversion of the two subsequent vessel has been delayed and the first vessel is expected to be ready by the end of this year (instead of both being in service by that time).
“Program Icebreakers” are those six (supposedly) medium icebreakers that Davie is supposed to build in the future following its “ascension” into Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy. While I’m referring to these as “medium icebreakers” but I’m not sure if that term has been used officially in Canada or elsewhere. However, to my understanding they are intended as the replacement for the existing medium icebreaking tonnage. If the USCG’s definition for a “medium icebreaker” is propulsion power between 20,000 and 45,000 shaft horsepower (as per the world icebreaker chart), they might just make past the lower bound. However, so far Davie has not released any information about these vessels beyond what is shown in the brochure; in fact, this is the first time I’m seeing any renderings of these ships.
By the way, did you notice the icebreaker in their logo? That’s Aiviq. Perhaps they are still trying to push it into a heavy icebreaker role…
@Tups, thanks. These look different from most of the Canadian Icebreakers that seem to have a secondary aids to navigation role, although this may be able to do that as well.
Those of us coming from the Coast Guard have to remember the designations the Coast Guard uses for light, medium, and heavy icebreakers is unique to the USCG and recognized no where else. We even abuse the term in call the Mackinaw a heavy icebreaker in the context of the Great Lakes.
This actually shows one of the problems with USCG’s power-based classification. With a vessel of that size, the given icebreaking capability (1.4 m or about 4.5 ft at a speed of 3 knots) is achievable with less than 20000 shp with a well-designed icebreaking hull form. However, a less-efficient bow geometry would actually push the ship “up” in the ranking.
It’s probably worth nothing Davie just finalized the deal to purchase Helsinki Shipyard in Finland from the Russians:
https://www.davie.ca/news/davie-completes-purchase-of-the-assets-of-helsinki-shipyard/
Helsinki Shipyard and its predecessors have built more icebreakers than anyone else, including two nuclear-powered icebreakers for the Soviet Union.
That could be useful, especially since Finland is now in NATO.
Another report here: https://www.marinelink.com/news/davie-acquires-helsinki-shipyard-509216