HMCS Chicoutimi in 20154 Credit: Marine Forces Pacific
The Department of National Defence said there were no injuries when a training vessel ran into a stationary submarine docked at Esquimalt Harbour on Thursday.
The Orca-class Patrol Craft Training vessel was doing a low-speed docking manoeuvre when it hit the HMCS Chicoutimi at around 8 a.m.
No one was injured and there was minor damage to the prop of the Orca-class vessel. The wooden guard on the submarine’s stabilizer fin was superficially damaged.
The impact is not expected to affect the operations of either vessel. Tests of HMCS Chicoutimi systems and sensors are being done.
Canada’s submarine fleet has had a number of breakdowns and other problems since the used ships were bought from the United Kingdom in 1998.
The federal government is planning to upgrade the submarines so they can operate into the 2030s. By that decade, the oldest submarine will be more than 40-years-old.
With files from The Canadian Press
Alexa Huffman
