Canada has formally welcomed CCGS Judy LaMarsh into its Great Lakes fleet, marking the first addition of a large vessel in the region in more than 30 years, according to a Canadian Coast Guard statement.
The vessel, based in Prescott, Ontario, will carry out icebreaking and buoy-tending operations across the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River in Ontario and Quebec.
The Coast Guard’s coverage in the region extends about 2,400 km along the Canada-US border, from the St. Lawrence River to the western end of Lake Superior.
Judy LaMarsh entered service in December 2025 after being purchased in 2021 and converted and refitted at Newdock St. John’s Dockyard Limited from 2023 to 2025.
The work covered the vessel’s propulsion, communication and navigation systems, upgrades to workspaces and accommodation, and installation of a new buoy crane.
Built in Romania in 2010, the ship was previously registered in Turkmenistan as Mangystau-2 and operated as a commercial firefighting tug in the Caspian Sea. The Coast Guard announced its purchase as a light icebreaker from Atlantic Towing Limited in November 2021.
Judy LaMarsh is the fourth interim icebreaker acquired by the Coast Guard, following CCGS Jean Goodwill, CCGS Vincent Massey and CCGS Captain Molly Kool.
The vessels were bought to provide additional capacity while other ships undergo life-extension work and repairs.
It is now one of three large Coast Guard vessels operating on the Great Lakes alongside CCGS Samuel Risley and CCGS Griffon, which also carry out winter icebreaking.
The ship was acquired under Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy and is named after Judy LaMarsh, a former federal Cabinet minister who served as secretary of state from 1965 to 1968, helped establish the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada and was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1980.