As this committee is well aware, we have, within the national shipbuilding strategy, the capacity to do both combat and non-combat ships. When the original book of work was given to these successful shipyards on the west and east coasts, the Coast Guard hadn't done the in-depth work it now has done to determine its long-term needs. Yes, these ships are very old, and as our Prime Minister has said, we don't want them to rust out. With the average age being 38 years, you can know there are some that would be many years older than that.
The Prime Minister announced, I think it was two weeks ago, a complete fleet renewal of the Coast Guard, with the first wave of that fleet renewal being up to 18 large ships, with a value of approximately $15.7 billion. There are 16 of them that are to be built at Seaspan as multi-purpose vessels, and two of them will be AOPS, Arctic and offshore patrol ships, at Irving. The benefit of having two AOPS as part of that mix is that the Coast Guard will get these ships five years earlier than if we went with 18 MPVs. Quite frankly, the technical capacity of AOPS is slightly different from MPVs, so again, it just adds to the fleet.
As part of this announcement, we will be looking to secure a third yard within the NSS to help us get the Coast Guard the additional capacity it needs beyond what I've just spoken about. The Coast Guard has not announced what that will be. However, from a PSPC perspective, we will be engaging in a competitive process to determine which yard that will be, and ensure that when the work is ready to be done and identified, that yard is prepared to do it.