Heddle Marine paid 98% of contract for botched Hudson refit
The end may be in sight to the sorry saga of the 2017 refit-gone-wrong of Canada's premier scientific research vessel the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Hudson.
But not before a government disclosure that Heddle Marine Services has been paid nearly 98 per cent of the $4-million contract price, even though the refit ran six months late and was still unfinished when the government yanked the Hudson out of an Ontario shipyard, fearing the vessel would be trapped in the Great Lakes for a second winter.
"To date, a total of $3,912,221.92 (HST excluded) has been paid to Heddle Marine Service Inc," said Coast Guard spokesperson Vance Chow in a recent e-mailed response to CBC News.
Why Ottawa pulled the plug
The 54-year-old research ship went in for an exterior maintenance refit in December 2016.
The job was supposed to be completed in May 2017.
In October 2017, Public Services and Procurement Canada pulled the plug and had the Hudson towed out of the Hamilton, Ont., yard to complete the refit at a federal facility in nearby Burlington, Ont.
The Coast Guard said at the time only a minor amount of work remained.
Coast Guard Commissioner Jeffrey Hutchinson later told a parliamentary committee "the work as being done and was generally being accepted" but delivery dates were being missed and winter was closing in.
"We had to do a very basic calculation and that is that the seaway closes on a given day and we needed the Hudson back on the East Coast before the seaway closed," Hutchinson said.
The delay forced the Coast Guard to spend more than $2.5 million chartering vessels to carry out at-sea surveys because the Hudson was not available.
Still no explanation from federal government
The government still won't say what went wrong with the refit.
"Discussions between PSPC, the CCG (Canadian Coast Guard) and the contractor are still ongoing concerning the nature of the delays," said Chow.
Heddle Marine spokesperson Shaun Padulo said those discussions will determine the final contract payment for the refit.
"Heddle will be hosting personnel from PSPC and CCG in mid-February to work towards the close-out of the project," Padulo said in an emailed statement.
"We anticipate being able to reach a final resolution by mid-March."
Back in the saddle
The CCGS Hudson is now back at home base in Dartmouth undergoing a scheduled interior refit being carried out alongside by Heddle Marine.
Ottawa awarded the $840,000 tender to Heddle Marine Service Inc. (NL), which it maintains is a separate operating entity from Heddle Marine Services.
The two companies share the same website.
Heddle's competitors have complained about the award claiming the company should not have been allowed to bid given the 2017 refit was never completed.
They also claimed the work sheet included repairs caused by the 2017 refit at Heddle's Hamilton shipyard.
Chow appeared to confirm the claim when CBC asked if the current refit awarded to Heddle Marine (NL) included repairing sand blasting damage caused by the previous refit.
"A minor portion of the work to be carried out during the January 2018 refit on the CCGS Hudson will involve removing some debris from previous sand blasting activities around the bridge windows," he said.
