Canada has awarded a contract valued at $19.6 million to a shipbuilding company in Victoria, BC to build five new 47-foot motor lifeboats for the Canadian Coast Guard. The new vessels will be used by the Canadian Coast Guard for search and rescue operations across the country.
Two of the vessels will be based in British Columbia and one each in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
These vessels will be the latest additions to the existing fleet of 31 47-foot motor lifeboats, introduced to the Canadian Coast Guard in 1999 and later. The basic design was obtained from the US Coast Guard (USCG) following their extensive testing. The USCG design was modified to best fit the needs of the Canadian Coast Guard.
Funding for the five new vessels is provided under Canada’s Economic Action Plan and the vessels will be delivered by March 2011.
