A Canadian warship is heading to Greenland before making a historic journey across the Arctic through the Northwest Passage to its new home in British Columbia. HMCS Robert Hampton Gray, the newest of Canada’s Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships, left Halifax earlier this month for a series of northern exercises and patrols ahead of its expected arrival in Esquimalt, B.C., in November. The voyage marks only the third time that a Royal Canadian Navy warship has made a complete transit of the Arctic. It will be the first such voyage undertaken specifically to relocate a Canadian warship from the Atlantic to the Pacific fleet. The deployment also marks the first time that a Canadian navy ship is operating with a Canadian Coast Guard helicopter on board, following the transfer of the coast guard service from Fisheries and Oceans Canada to the Department of National Defence last year. The Arctic patrol ships were initially designed to accommodate the larger CH-148 Cyclone, the military’s main maritime helicopter, but integrating the aircraft with the vessels has proven elusive and requires ongoing modifications. The coast guard’s Bell 429 helicopter “is quite a bit smaller, quite a bit less capable than a Cyclone,” said Cmdr. Brian Henwood, the commanding officer of HMCS Robert Hampton Gray, in an interview from the ship near Greenland on Wednesday. “But for the mission that we’re doing, it’s perfect. It gives us that reach to get people ashore, to get cargo ashore to do some surveillance, medevacs, all that sort of utility work, which is really what an AOPS needs up in the Arctic.” Following its port visit in Greenland, where the crew of roughly 90 sailors will meet with Danish and American military officials, the vessel will transit west through the Northern Passage ahead of three to four weeks of patrols in the Bering and Chukchi seas. Henwood said the patrols will focus on surveillance, sovereignty and building the navy’s ability to operate in an increasingly accessible Arctic. “Each year we’re getting less and less ice, so there’s more and more traffic and more interest from other nations up there,” Henwood said of the seas between Canada, Alaska and Russia. “So, our purpose up there is to keep an eye on what’s going on, be prepared to ensure that Canadian sovereignty, Canadian security is well understood.” The patrols will also see the Canadian ship work with the U.S. Coast Guard, while the crew gains experience operating the new ship in frozen seas. “We’re still learning how to operate in ice as a navy,” Henwood said, adding that the crew will practise maneuvering around and breaking ice while conducting surveillance activities. HMCS Robert Hampton Gray was the sixth and final vessel of the Harry DeWolf class of patrol ships to be built for the navy. The ship is expected to be commissioned into Canada’s Pacific fleet on Nov. 16, shortly after its arrival in Esquimalt.
