News Article

Vard Marine Inc. Welcomes Serco Into the Team Vigilance Preferred Suppliers Program

Published: February 26, 2024

At CANSEC 2023, Vard Marine Inc. (VARD), a Fincantieri company, proudly launched VIGILANCE, as their solution to replace the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) Kingston Class Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels (MCDV) under Pillar Two of Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy.  In conjunction with Team Vigilance partner companies Ontario Shipyards, Thales Canada, SH Defense, and Fincantieri, VIGILANCE will provide the RCN with a state-of-the-art, capable, operationally flexible, and globally deployable multi-mission naval vessel.

This collaboration ensures Team Vigilance can meet the needs of the Royal Canadian Navy’s future fleet with a tailored naval solution, striking the optimum balance between capability and cost, while also maintaining the life-cycle cost advantages VARD’s naval designs are known for.

As a part of the ongoing effort, Team Vigilance continues to assemble a broad coalition of Canadian companies that can offer important services and vital equipment to the program. Building a robust coalition is key to the core objective that VIGILANCE be designed in Canada, built in Canada, and equipped in Canada.  To this end, Team Vigilance launched their Preferred Suppliers Program at DEFSEC 2023 in Halifax last October.

Today, it is announced that VARD has named Serco as a Preferred Supplier to Team Vigilance.  Throughout Canada, Serco employs 1,200 people across 100 offices in four provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, delivering a range of services that includes integrated logistics support and ship design solutions.  Adding Serco to Team Vigilance will ensure Canadian-based technical and engineering personnel are available to support every stage of design, from preliminary design through detailed design and 3D production modelling, right here at home.

Serco offers a full lifecycle approach for maritime assets from concept and ship design all the way to modernization, sustainment and operations support. Their track record spans vessels operating in the most demanding conditions, from icebreakers to submarines and from advanced military ships to next-generation green transport.

Not only will VIGILANCE provide the sailors of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve the modern tools they need to protect Canada’s vital interests at home and abroad, it will also allow them to continue to leverage the best that Canadian industry has to offer from companies like Serco Canada.

Derek Buxton, Vice President Business Development, Vard Marine Inc., said: “Design and engineering is a critical element of the shipbuilding value chain, and a strategic domestic shipbuilding capability simply does not exist without it.  We remain fully committed to the principle that VIGILANCE will be designed, built, and equipped in Canada.  Bringing Serco onboard as a Preferred Supplier to Team Vigilance, with the bench strength they can provide in support of design and engineering activities, will ensure middle-class, Canadian-based and trained knowledge workers are provided the valuable experience they need to succeed and help build enduring positive impacts in the marine sector right here at home.”

Russell Peters, General Manager, Serco Canada Marine, said: “Serco is proud to be able to bring its design and engineering capabilities to Team Vigilance as a Preferred Supplier. Our extensive design experience and rigorous design process enables us to bring real value to our customers.  Maintaining a domestic ship design capability is so critical to all aspects of NSS, and this partnership with Vard for the RCN’s Kingston Class replacement project, acknowledges Serco’s commitment to developing Canada’s shipbuilding industry, for the domestic and export market alike.”