Eight New SAR Lifeboats Ordered for Canadian Coast Guard

Canada's Public Services and Procurement Canada is acquiring eight new high-endurance search and rescue (SAR) lifeboats for the Canadian Coast Guard. The new self-righting vessels will have the ability to operate up to 100 nautical miles from shore.

The vessels will be built by Chantier Naval Forillon in Quebec and Hike Metal Products in Ontario. The two yards are already producing six SAR lifeboats each under existing contracts signed in 2015. Under the amended contracts, each shipyard will build four additional lifeboats at a total cost of $61,757,896. 

Chantier Naval Forillon in Gaspé, Quebec, won a $45.8-million contract in July 2015 to build six vessels, and Hike Metal Products in Wheatley, Ontario, won a $43.4-million contract at the same time for another six vessels. The 20-meter, aluminum, self-righting vessels feature a pair of MTU 1600 HP marine diesel engines driving five-blade skewed propellers through ZF V-drives providing a speed of up to 24 knots in extreme weather conditions. The vessels were designed by Robert Allan Ltd.

To date, four of the vessels have been delivered to the Canadian Coast Guard. Additionally, seven new lifeboat stations are being built as part of the Government's $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan.