Madam Chair, obviously it depends on the ships. In the case of these ships, however, we understand that the contract for the first five ships was for $400 million each, but the sixth ship is going to cost $800 million, bringing the total to $2.8 billion.
We have learned that the total bill for all the ships would be $4.3 billion. The cost per ship normally goes down, but instead it is going up. The seventh and eighth ships ordered are going to cost $1.5 billion.
After gaining experience from building the first two ships, we should be improving, not regressing. Can the minister explain why this is costing more, not less?