235818
235053
BC  

New vessel ready for duty

Canada's newest Coast Guard vessel is now ready for duty.

The 64-metre Sir John Franklin, is a dedicated Canadian Coast Guard science vessel, christened in Sidney B.C. on Thursday.

The Sir John Franklin is the first of three offshore fisheries science vessels built under the national shipbuilding plan and will sail out of the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney.

CTV News is reporting that Verna Tunnicliffe, the first woman to lead a deep-sea science expedition on Canada's West Coast, was the civilian invited to sponsor the vessel for its well-being.

The Franklin suffered a training mishap returning to port from its first week of sea trials when it struck the Ogden Point breakwater, damaging the vessel and the sea wall.

-with files from CTV News Vancouver Island



More BC News