Government Operations committee  We have yet to negotiate the terms and conditions of the contract. The terms and conditions drive how much it's going to cost to build the ship.

Government Operations committee  It's very difficult to—

Government Operations committee  Our productivity is lower than that of other shipyards in North America that are building ships of a complexity that is similar to what we're doing right now.

Government Operations committee  I think it would vary by the shipyard. It's within 20% to 30% of Bath Iron Works in Maine, for instance, which would be one that is right down the road.

Government Operations committee  It's had a severe impact on shipyards. I was just in BAE shipyard in Glasgow last week. We had very direct discussions about the impacts. Their impacts were not quite as bad as ours, but they were bad. I think it's probably appropriate to point out here there was a risk-averse approach to COVID taken in Nova Scotia.

Government Operations committee  Let's try to get the numbers correct so that we're all speaking on an equal footing here. As I mentioned earlier, the 800—

Government Operations committee  The approximate cost for the first six ships is $500 million per ship. Now, you have to remember that the first ship contains a significant number of non-recurring engineering costs—

Government Operations committee  —so the price of each ship goes down.

Government Operations committee  I was not here at that time. My assumption is that it was a contract for five ships that was modified to be a contract for six ships.

Government Operations committee  It is less than $500 million.

Government Operations committee  Are you asking for what it would be overall or in certain areas, as a percentage?

Government Operations committee  We recently had price estimates from all of our suppliers for AOPS seven and eight, and we were able to compare those to the prices we paid for AOPS one through six. In those cases, the prices have gone up anywhere between 15% and 40% on AOPs seven and eight from what it's going to be for AOPS one through six.

Government Operations committee  We purchase our steel through a steel distributor called Stigterstaal, and the steel that they provide is sourced from various areas of the world. The steel used in construction for the AOP ships is a highly specialized steel. We intended at the front end of the program to use steel suppliers in Canada.

Government Operations committee  I'll have to get back to you with that exact number. That's just not a number that I keep on the tip of my tongue, I'm afraid.

Government Operations committee  The impact of COVID on costs occurs in two ways in a shipyard. One, it has affected the production hours that it has taken to complete the ship. That would be due to the disruption caused by not having all of the workers we needed on any particular day and in any particular week.