Dartmouth, Nova Scotia: The Canadian Coast Guard has officially welcomed CCGS Shediac Bay to the Coast Guard fleet at the Search and Rescue station in Saint John, New Brunswick.
Gary Ivany, Assistant Commissioner Canadian Coast Guard Atlantic Region joined elder Chris Brooks from Sitansisk (St. Mary’s First Nation) and Senator Jim Quinn, the Vessel Sponsor, in the traditional breaking of a ceremonial bottle upon the ship’s bow.
CCGS Shediac Bay was acquired by the Government of Canada in May 2022. The vessel is the 12th of 20 new SAR Lifeboats dedicated into service by the Canadian Coast Guard and named after geographical bays across Canada.
The lifeboats are specifically designed, equipped and crewed to respond to search and rescue incidents at sea. These vessels will operate up to 100 nautical miles from shore, maintain a maximum 30 minute state-of-readiness, and are typically ready to respond the moment an alert is received.
These vessels are being stationed across Canada to provide key search and rescue services including searches on the water, responding to marine distress response calls as well as assistance to disabled vessels.
Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, said:“The CCGS Shediac Bay is one of twenty new, Canadian-built search and rescue vessels to join the Canadian Coast Guard fleet. These vessels will ensure our search and rescue crews have state-of-the-art equipment to help keep Canadians safe on the water.”
• The CCGS Shediac Bay is classed as a search and rescue lifeboat, which can maintain a speed up to 25 knots, and has a crew of four. CCGS Shediac Bay was accepted into the Coast Guard fleet in May 2022.
• The series of 20 vessels are being built by Chantier Naval Forillon (Gaspé, Quebec) and Hike Metal Products (Wheatley, Ontario), 10 per shipyard.
• The lifeboats are informally referred to as “Bay Class” vessels, as each one is named after a Canadian bay.
• These shore-stationed self-righting lifeboats were built to: provide key search and rescue services, including:
◦ conducting searches on water
◦ responding to marine distress calls
◦ providing assistance to disabled vessels
◦ operate up to 100 nautical miles from shore
◦ replace the Canadian Coast Guard’s existing search and rescue vessels
• Each year, the Canadian Coast Guard responds to over 6,000 calls for marine assistance. On an average day, the Coast Guard coordinate the response to 19 search and rescue incidents, assist 68 people and save 18 lives.
• The new SAR lifeboats will contribute to Canada’s blue economy in keeping our waters safe for mariners and supporting environmental response operations to reduce the impacts of marine pollution in our waters.