When will the subs surface?

I really do wonder whether they will be worth it (and if we really need them):

...
More than 200 tradespeople have been working on HMCS Victoria since it was hoisted into drydock for what's called an extended docking work period in 2005. The job requires some 600,000 combined worker hours, installing 500,000 parts supplied by 1,600 different suppliers. The navy says it's a more complex, costly and time-consuming job than refitting a Boeing 777 commercial airliner.

"It's a hell of a job," said Wilson. "I may never do something this complex in my career again."

At first, the navy estimated repairs would be done this year. That's now been extended to mid-2009.

"The first time you tend to do anything, it tends to take a lot longer than the next," said Wilson, the project manager.

Canada bought four of the Victoria-class diesel-electric subs from Britain in 1998 for around $750 million. They have to be stripped and serviced after so many hours in the water. And even though Canada has barely used them - Victoria has spent only 115 days in the water since 2000 - the British-run hours are enough to warrant an overhaul.

All that work is above and beyond the "Canadianization" refits Canada completed when it bought the subs. It also doesn't count the time and money spent on subsequent emergency upgrades, such as when the fleet's high-pressure air tanks were found to be rusting, when cracks were found in diesel exhaust backup valves, when Victoria's engines started sparking during a mission in 2005, or when HMCS Chicoutimi suffered a fatal fire in 2004 during its maiden voyage back to Canada.

Three of the four subs are currently out of service. HMCS Windsor is undergoing its own extended docking service in Halifax. HMCS Chicoutimi was yanked from the water after the fire and will be serviced when Victoria is done. HMCS Cornerbrook is still out at sea running missions on the East Coast.

When it's all said and done, the navy estimates repairs for Victoria alone will cost approximately $195 million...

When work on Victoria is finally complete, the sub will be good for five years before heading back into another, shorter, extended docking period scheduled to last fewer than two years, said navy Cmdr. Scott McVicar, submarine operating authority for Maritime Forces Pacific commander Rear-Admiral Tyrone Pile...