Royal Canadian Navy ships to return from Indo-Pacific deployment

December 13, 2023 – Esquimalt, British Columbia – Department of National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces

Media are invited to attend the homecoming ceremony of His Majesty’s Canadian Ships (HMC Ships) Vancouver and Ottawa, and Motor Vessel (MV) Asterix, as the ships return to Esquimalt, B.C. on December 18, 2023, after 126 days away from home while deployed to the Indo-Pacific region.

The homecoming event will see nearly 500 sailors and aircrew arrive alongside to be greeted by friends, family, and VIPs, awaiting on the jetty.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, Marie-France Lalonde will be present to welcome the ships and their crew home. Madame Lalonde will do a stand-up scrum with media at approximately 9:00 am, to discuss the importance of this deployment under Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and to thank the sailors and aircrew for their service to Canada.

What: Media will be given the opportunity to capture the ships’ arrival into Esquimalt Harbour, the “first-kiss sailor” crossing the brow, to participate in a scrum with Parliamentary Secretary Marie-France Lalonde, and to participate in a scrum with the Commanding Officers (COs) of HMC Ships Vancouver and Ottawa.

When: December 18, 2023. Media are asked to arrive at the gate of the His Majesty’s Canadian Dockyard Esquimalt, with government-issued photo identification, no later than 8:20 a.m. The first ship will enter Esquimalt Harbour at 9:00 a.m., and arrive alongside at 9:45 a.m.

Where: Esquimalt Road entrance to His Majesty’s Canadian Dockyard Esquimalt. Upon arrival media will be greeted and escorted in their vehicles to Duntze Head for the ceremonial sail past, and then escorted to C Jetty where HMC Ships Vancouver and Ottawa will arrive alongside and be greeted by family. Media scrums will be arranged.

Note to Editors / News Directors:

The ships will receive a salute at Duntze Head at approximately 9:00 am. Following the salute, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, Marie-France Lalonde, will do a stand-up scrum with media. She will discuss the importance of the deployment of these ships to Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, and thank sailors and aircrew for their service to Canada.

When the ships arrive alongside, the following events will occur in this sequence:

• first-kiss sailor crosses the brow,
• the CO crosses the brow,
• media will be offered a scrum with the ships’ CO that will occur next to the brow. Media should position themselves to conduct the scrum with the COs next to the brow. As there will be hundreds of people on the jetty, it may not be possible for Public Affairs to seek out media amongst the crowd.
• Public Affairs can also facilitate media interviews with sailors and their families.

Registration: Media are asked to contact Maritime Forces Pacific Public Affairs at the phone or email address in the contact section below before 2 p.m. on Friday, December 15, 2023, to confirm their attendance.

Please bring government-issued photo identification to the event. An escort will greet media at the main gate and accompany them back to the gate upon completion of the event.

Livestream: The event will be live streamed via the Royal Canadian Navy Facebook and Royal Canadian Navy Instagram pages.