Rescue Boat News

Rigid hull inflatable boat (RIB) manufacturer Fluid Watercraft has unveiled its newest line of purpose-built search and rescue boatsFluid Watercraft’s new SAR 26 and SAR 23 RIBs feature a forward-pushed command and piloting console to increase aft deck space for enhanced victim and equipment recovery, and medical treatment capabilities as well as 16- and 10-person capacity respectively. To make the boats mission ready, the SAR 26 comes with two nRoads dome lights, stainless steel bow and aft tow posts…

In the commercial maritime and offshore industries, where worker safety and competency are crucial, effective training practices are an absolute must. While hands-on, in-the-field learning will always be a vital component of any mariner’s training, marine simulation has become a welcome enhancement to the education process. And in some cases, it’s seen as a safer alternative to traditional survival craft and rescue boat training.A leader in this space is Virtual Marine, based in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The volunteer fire department in Greene, Maine recently took delivery of a 16-foot RIBCRAFT 4.8 rescue boat. This specialized RIB expands the department’s response capabilities while providing a safe platform for rescue missions. Funded by a grant through Firehouse Subs, RIBCRAFT worked with the department to build a boat that met all of their operational requirements.Located on several rivers and lakes in Androscoggin County, the department receives many distress calls from recreational boaters.

A new high-speed low-draft landing craft Island Guardian has been delivered to the Great Barrier Reef Joint Field Management Program in Australia.The new 21-meter vessel has been custom-designed by Incat Crowther and built by Norman Wright & Sons to enhance island protected area management, research, incident response and facilitate more efficient management of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.The Great Barrier Reef Joint Field Management Program is delivered jointly by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service…

U.S. Army Mariners assigned to 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary) aboard the LCU 2032 Palo Alto rescued an overboard fisherman 10 miles off the western coast of Obi Island, Indonesia Sept. 1, 2023.Sgt. Seth Leonard, a watercraft engineer, was on the bridge of the ship when he observed the typical calm waters in the path of the ship were more active than usual.“I noticed what looked like someone waving their arms, which is the signal for distress in water,” said Leonard.

A fishing vessel quickly sank after colliding with a pilot boat near Newport News, Va. on Tuesday.The U.S. Coast Guard said it was alerted at 7:50 a.m. that the Virginia Pilot Association pilot boat Swift and a 38-foot deadrise fishing vessel Miss Heather collided near the Newport News Small Boat Harbor.A pilot aboard the Swift rescued two fishermen from the Miss Heather and brought them aboard as the fishing vessel rapidly took on water and sank.A rescue crew aboard a 45-foot…

Canada-based marine simulation training firm Virtual Marine Technology Inc. announced it has signed a strategic market representation agreement with New Zealand's Global Marine Technical Services (GMTS), extending its in-country coverage to Australia and New Zealand. The deal includes representation for Virtual Marine’s products within New Zealand and Australia, as well as other areas in the Indo-Pacific region.With a range of desktop to full mission motion systems, Virtual Marine…

Five mariners were rescued by the crew of a U.K. Royal Navy patrol ship after their tug started to sink in rough seas last week in the Caribbean.The oceangoing tug began taking on water after suffering an engine failure some 20 miles west of Sint Maarten. The vessel's crew sent out a distress call around 1 p.m. on Friday and took refuge on the large sand barge their vessel had been towing.Patrol ship HMS Medway, the Royal Navy’s permanent presence in the region, was slightly more than a dozen miles away and promptly responded to the Mayday call.

Operating on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from day one in service, the MV George III, the first of Pasha Group’s two new ‘Ohana Class’, Jones Act-qualified containerships, features a state-of-the-art engine, an optimized hull form, and an underwater propulsion system with a high-efficiency rudder and propeller. George III is the first LNG-powered vessel to fuel on the West Coast and the first to serve Hawaii. The 774-ft. Jones Act vessel surpasses the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 2030 emission standards for ocean vessels.

VIKING Life-Saving Equipment and maritime electric motor systems developer Evoy launched an electrically powered 6.55m rescue boat, the VIKING Norsafe E-Mako-655. The Mako-655 is an existing rescue boat design that, up until now, has only been offered with traditional engine propulsion due to the current IMO/SOLAS regulation which states that rescue boats of this type must have at least one internal combustion engine.VIKING Norsafe and Evoy are challenging what they call a "somewhat…

Salvage, emergency response and marine services company Resolve Marine announced that its vessel the Resolve Pioneer has completed its ABS special survey and U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) certificate of inspection following a drydock at Vigor Industrial in Portland, Ore. The drydock involved various technical upgrades, hull steel renewal, painting, overhaul and cleaning of the vessel.The 207-foot rescue boat is based in Western Alaska and provides critical emergency response and oil spill readiness 24/7. The Resolve Pioneer also helps to ensure that commercial vessels transiting U.S.

A hybrid vessel for the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), co-developed by BMT and Penguin Shipyard International, was recently commissioned.The hybrid-electric aluminium catamaran, dubbed MPA Guardian, is a 35-mpatrol boat designed to conduct patrolling activities, search and rescue, oil spill response, drone operations and salvage support. It will also be used as the government’s test bed for new technologies and equipment.With accommodation for up to 24 people and a state-of-the-art wheelhouse…

Japanese shipping company NYK Group's heavy lift vessel Katori saved 11 crew members from a vessel in distress off Sri Lanka on April 27.NYK said that the 138 meters long Katori, owned by its affiliate NYK Bulk & Projects Carriers Ltd. (NBP), received a distress call while sailing from Genoa, Italy, to Singapore.Port authority of Colombo, Sri Lanka, sent a call at around 20:20 on April 27 to rescue crew members of a vessel in distress drifting off the coast of Sri Lanka due to…

When it came time to replace their 50-year-old station vessel New York, the Sandy Hook Pilots Association thought long and hard, weighing their options to determine the best possible solution. They traveled the country, to Houston, San Francisco and up to the Columbia River, and even to Europe—the Elbe River in Germany and Rotterdam in the Netherlands—to ride with other pilots in search of an answer.“We looked at everything from SWATH (small-waterplane-area twin hull) boats to helicopters to big boats in Europe…

Italian boat builder High Tech Marine (HTM) is constructing a new firefighting and rescue patrol boat for operation in the harbor waters and along the Monaco coastline.Commissioned by the Monaco Government, the vessel will be delivered by September 2022 and enter service immediately, enabling the region’s Corps des Sapeurs-Pompiers to provide firefighting and rescue services in the Principality's ports and along a coastal zone which may include the surrounding French territorial…

Svitzer Suez 1, the first RAstar 2800-CL ASD escort tug, has been delivered to Svitzer Egypt LLC by Cheoy Lee Shipyards and will soon commence operations in the Suez Canal. Svitzer are the first owners of this new escort tug design and a further nine tugs to this design have already been ordered with Cheoy Lee.The RAstar 2800-CL design started with a “blank sheet of paper”, according to naval architecture firm Robert Allan Ltd., who said one of the primary goals of the design was to make it extremely flexible allowing for various propulsion machinery options…

Last Tuesday, the crew of the service operations vessel (SOV) Esvagt Njord helped save seven fishermen in distress near the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm in the U.K. North Sea.Esvagt Njord is a wind turbine ship assisting Equinor in the operation of the offshore wind farm off Great Yarmouth on the English east coast. Over the radio, skipper Brian Kristiansen heard a fishing vessel nearby calling for help, and when he responded, he learned that the ship was taking in water. "The fishing vessel had yet to send out a Mayday. We had a feeling, however, that there was a need for help close by.

Three Chinese vessels, one with a manned submersible capable of descending to 10,000 meters (32,800 ft), have arrived in Indonesian waters to help retrieve a submarine that sank and broke apart last month, killing 53 on board, an official said.Indonesian navy officials and experts have acknowledged how difficult the salvage operation will be to recover the Nanggala-402 submarine lying on the sea bed off Bali."What's most important is lifting the biggest parts of the ship from the seabed," military spokesman Djawara H.T.

The crew of an idled cruise ship anchored in The Bahamas coordinated the rescue of a severely inured yacht crew member on Tuesday.Carinval Cruise Line's Carnival Ecstasy responded to the Mayday call from the private yacht Balista seeking help for a crew member suffering from severe injuries.Carnival Ecstasy was approximately four nautical miles away. While it could see that another cruise ship was closer, the other vessel did not appear to be responding to the Mayday and Carnival…

Wagenborg Offshore said it has taken its third walk-to-work (W2W) vessel into service. The converted Keizersborg is used as a standby vessel for inspection and maintenance of unmanned platforms in both Dutch and British waters of the southern North Sea.The DP2 Keizersborg was originally designed as a platform supply vessel (PSV) by Wärtsilä and built by Wuhu Shipyard in China. It was converted in 16 weeks by the Royal Niestern Sander shipyard and provided with an extra accommodation…

A Palau-flagged freight ship has sunk off the coast of Turkey's Black Sea province of Bartin, killing two crew members, the coast guard said on Sunday, adding that search and rescue operations for more crew members were continuing.Bartin Governor Sinan Guner had initially said the ship, the ARVIN, was a Russian dry freight vessel that sank off the coast of the Inkumu region in poor weather, but later corrected that."The ARVIN ship attempted to take refuge at the Bartin port due to poor weather conditions as it carried cargo from Georgia to Bulgaria," Guner was quoted as saying by state-owned Anadolu news agency.The coast guard said the ship had sunk after taking in water amid heavy weather conditions.

Australian vessel designer Incat Crowther on Friday announced the launch of Tamoya, an Incat Crowther 17 to join Reef Ranger and Reef Resilience in Australia's Great Barrier Reef Joint Field Management Program fleet."Tamoya packs a lot of punch for her size, which is measured specifically to fit the home port berth. The main deck is dominated by an aft working deck with a quick launch and recovery system for a 3.4m RHIB, dive racks, deck winches, BBQ area, a sink and multiple deck lashing points…

A German aid group that operated a migrant rescue boat in the Mediterranean said on Wednesday Italian magistrates were set to charge 21 individuals and three human rights groups with aiding illegal immigration from Libya.The announcement came after magistrates in the Sicilian city of Trapani said they had concluded a three-year investigation centered on the Iuventa boat, which was run by the Jugend Rettet non-governmental group.The magistrates did not make their findings public, but the Iuventa crew, which is kept abreast of legal developments, said they had been charged and faced up to 20 years in jail."Saving lives is never a crime.