We have authorization to acquire a total of 17 new vessels. One is an air cushion vehicle for Quebec that will replace the existing air cushion vehicle in Quebec. That is an item we have been working on for some time, and it's now in the actual construction stage. We expect to have that one next year. We have funded it out of our regular capital funding.
In the last two budgets, we have received authority to purchase 16 new vessels in total. There will be eight midshore patrol vessels, plus another four midshore patrol vessels for security purposes on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence. Of the total of twelve vessels, five are new ones, additions to the fleet, and the others are replacements for existing vessels.
On top of that, we've been authorized to replace the three main science research vessels and the one oceanographic research vessel. All of those four are replacements for existing science vessels.
The total there is sixteen, five of which are additions to the fleet and eleven replacements for existing vessels, if you want the numbers writ large.
In terms of the processes, we have put out a request for proposals for a number of the midshore patrol vessels and are in the process of evaluating the bids. For those, I'm hopeful we will be able to issue a contract over the summer, and we're hoping to have the first of these midshore patrol vessels sometime by late 2009, and a new one every few months afterwards.
For two of the science vessels we hope to go to that stage early next year and to issue a contract next year. That would lead, we hope, to getting the first of those vessels in late 2011 or early 2012.
For the vessels that were approved in this last budget, we haven't yet finalized the procurement strategy. We would have to follow the normal process of going forward with suggestions of possible options for procurement, and we're working on that.