VERSATILE TO BUILD POLAR ICE BREAKER
Versatile Corp's shipbuilding subsidiary
has a letter of intent to build a 320 mln dlr polar icebreaker
for the Canadian coast guard, Transport Minister John Crosbie
said.
    In a Vancouver address, Crosbie said Versatile Pacific
Shipyards Inc was the low bidder to build the Arctic Class 8
icebreaker, but the company must meet certain financial and
engineering conditions before the contract is awarded.
    The government also announced it will provide up to 13 mln
dlrs in loan insurance to help Versatile prepare for the
construction of the vessel.
said before the contract can be awarded Versatile "will be
required to offer assurances that the shipyard is technically
and financially capable of performing the work."
    Crosibie said Versatile's bid was 100 mln dlrs lower than
competing bidders and will generate 1,000 person years of
direct employment.
    Work on the vessel, which Crosbie said would be the most
powerful icebreaker in the world, would begin next year and
completed in 1992.
    The government announced plans to build the icebreaker last
year following the controversial passage of the U.S. Coast
Guard's vessel, the Polar Sea, through the disputed Northwest
Passage. The U.S. government did not seek permission for the
journey, claiming the area was an international water way.
    The government said the icebreaker was needed to back up
the country's claim of sovereignty in the Arctic.
 Reuter
