The first in a fleet of Canadian Coast Guard’s new search and rescue (SAR) lifeboats will be named after Conception Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canadian minister of fisheries Dominic LeBlanc announced on Monday.
Following the lead ship in the class, up to 20 new “Bay”-class boats will be named after geographical bays across Canada.
The CCGS Conception Bay will be stationed in the Atlantic region.
The new high-endurance, self-righting search and rescue lifeboats will operate up to 100 nautical miles from shore, delivering improved search and rescue capability.
In total, the Coast Guard will be receiving 20 new SAR lifeboats. Fifteen new search and rescue lifeboats are being built under the Federal Infrastructure Initiative and the Fleet Renewal Plan and five are committed under the Oceans Protection Plan.
“Infrastructure investment is a priority for our government. It benefits all Canadians and demonstrates the federal government’s commitment to promote the maritime industry—a key economic sector for a number of regions.,” Dominic LeBlanc said. “We are proud of this investment in the new Search and Rescue lifeboats, and the tribute to our vast and beautiful country by naming them after bays, including Conception Bay.”
Chantier Naval Forillon and Hike Metal were awarded contracts totaling $89.2 million to build twelve of the new SAR lifeboats.
Hike Metal is already building a series of six boats in the class. These 20 meter boats are powered by a pair of MTU 1600 HP marine Diesel engines providing a speed of up to 24 knots in extreme weather conditions. These vessels are primarily a day boat and will be operated by a crew of up to five(5) Coast Guard seamen with an autonomy of up to 200 kilometers offshore.