HMCS Corner Brook – Victoria Class Submarine Support

Canada

Trailblazing contributions – ABOVE AND BEYOND

The Corner Brook team were highly dedicated and the project controls processes quite comprehensive. However, the tailoring and application of the processes, as required to control the HMCS Corner Brook refurbishment, had some areas for improvement.

A significantly greater effort than expected was put into exploring the current state intricacies and interactions of the team and how it operated. Defining this correlation between theory and operations, enabled the report and recommendations to be more concise, meaningful and beneficial to the team moving forward.

Location: Victoria BC, Canada
Sector: Industrial, Manufacturing & Resources
Services: Planning & Scheduling
Value: CAD 2.6 billion
Year(s): 2020
Engagement: Babcock Canada

As the UK leader for In-Service Submarine Support, Babcock entered into a Joint Venture with Weir (Canada). The Joint Venture (JV) tendered and was awarded the Victoria In-Service Submarine Contract (VISSC), on behalf of the Canadian Navy, in July 2008.

The scope of the VISSC includes:

Project Management
Records and Logistics Support
Engineering Support
Maintenance Support

The JV was re-branded in 2011 to Babcock Canada Inc, a division of the Babcock International Group of companies.

Babcock Canada now operates facilities across Canada including Victoria, BC, Halifax, NS and Ottawa, ON in order to deliver the 15-year contract.

At the time of engagement, it was the HMCS Corner Brook Submarine, which was in the process of being modernised in facilities based in Victoria, British Colombia.

Engagement

Due to reasons of tidal seasons, dry-dock availability and other factors, a greater level of confidence was required in the veracity and achievability of the Contract Dates.

Our team was engaged to travel to the facilities in Victoria, BC Canada and liaise with the team to understand the schedule and reporting structures and practices, including risk adjusted Monte Carlo simulations, to provide an independent assessment of the controls processes, schedule quality and overall achievability.

What was delivered

After liaison across the wider team, an independent report benchmarking the adequacy of processes against industry best practice was delivered. The analysis and report also analysed the structure, in-depth progress trending and suggested amendments. This information was used to forecast new targets for the Contract Dates, which unfortunately, but not unexpectedly were later than being reported at the time.

The report was used to facilitate Babcock’s senior management about its actual progress, which in turn enabled it to engage with its clients, the Canadian Government to align expectations.