A closer look at HMCS Max Bernays, the Pacific fleet’s first Arctic patrol vessel

We’re getting an up-close look at the first of Canada’s new class of Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessels (AOPV) to join the country’s Pacific fleet.

HMCS Max Bernays was in Vancouver on Thursday and took media on a day sail to show off the new vessel’s capabilities.

The 103-metre, ice-capable ship is the fourth of six planned Harry DeWolf-class AOPVs to join the Royal Canadian Navy under the National Shipbuilding Strategy.

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“The commander of our fleet in the Pacific has actually described us as a ‘pickup truck’ — we have a lot of capabilities, we can do a lot of things,” HMCS Max Bernays’ commanding officer Cmdr. Nadia Sheilds told Global News.

The vessel can be deployed with multiple payloads, including shipping containers, underwater survey equipment and landing craft. It also contains a vehicle bay that can hold pickup trucks, all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles.

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Shields said the vessel has a smaller crew than similar-sized ships in the Navy but comes with more redundancies and cutting-edge autonomous technology.

She said the vessel can handle jobs typically asked of the navy, such as humanitarian or interdiction missions. What makes it unique, she said, is that it is the only ship in the navy that is rated for first-year sea ice in the Arctic.

“That’s very exciting and that’s actually why I requested to be the commander of Max Bernays on the West Coast,” she said.

As climate change reduces the polar ice caps, Shields said it has become more important than ever for Canada to maintain a presence in the Arctic.

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“We have friends and adversaries that are developing different capabilities to be able to operate in the Arctic year-round, and we have fishing fleets that are starting to push up into the north and taking advantage of those rich waters,” Shields said.

“So if we want to have a say in how our Arctic waters are being managed and who is travelling within our arctic waterways, we need to have a presence in the Arctic, and that is our mission.”

The Max Bernays was constructed in Halifax and left its Atlantic port in March for deployment to its new home port at Esquimalt.

Its deployment has not been without issue.

It dealt with flooding and mechanical problems while participating in an international exercise over the summer, and had to dock at Pearl Harbour for repairs.

The vessel is named after Max Bernays, an acting chief petty officer aboard HMCS Assiniboine, who was able to ram and sink a submarine during the Battle of the Atlantic in 1942.