Shangri-La Dialogue 2024: Canada to deploy Harry DeWolf-class vessel t…

HMCS Max Bernays will be deployed to the Indo-Pacific in 2024 as part of the country's effort to deepen its naval engagement in the region. (Royal Canadian Navy)

A Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) Harry DeWolf-class Arctic patrol vessel will be deployed to the Indo-Pacific as part of the country's effort to deepen its naval engagement in the region.

This deployment was announced by Canadian Minister of National Defence Bill Blair during his speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue 2024 in Singapore on 2 June.

The vessel, HMCS Max Bernays, will join the RCN's supply ship MV Asterix and a Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver and 300 Canadian Armed Forces personnel at Exercise ‘RIMPAC 2024', the minister added.

Another Halifax-class frigate, HMCS Montréal, which was said to be at Port Klang, Malaysia, on 2 June, was also present in the region at the time of his speech.

Montréal is one of three RCN frigates that will be deployed to the Indo-Pacific region in 2024, Blair said. This decision to deploy three frigates to the region per year was first announced by the Canadian government in 2022.

Meanwhile, Max Bernays is one of the RCN's newest vessels. It was commissioned by the service in May 2024, and the ship has been built to commercial Polar Class 5 standards.

“The reason we deploy these ships is to support the rules-based international order in the region, because we believe that all of our ships must be able to travel freely. And trade routes in both the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean must always be free and open for all to sail, according to our international rules,” said Blair in his 2 June speech.