We start the month of June 2022 with an impressive roundup of emergency service vessel deliveries. The newbuilds include a fast cutter for the US Coast Guard, two response boats for municipal operators in the continental US, and an Australian-designed and -built police boat for the Cook Islands.
US Coast Guard takes delivery of 49th Sentinel-class cutter
Bollinger Shipyards of Louisiana has delivered a new Sentinel-class fast response cutter (FRC) to the US Coast Guard.
The future USCGC Douglas Denman is the 49th Sentinel-class FRC. It will be homeported in Ketchikan, Alaska, as an operational asset of the coast guard's 17th District. The 154-foot (47-metre) cutter honours US Coast Guardsman Douglas Denman, a highly decorated boat coxswain who saw service in the Pacific in World War II.
Commissioning is scheduled for September 2022.
Chicago Fire Department welcomes new response boat to fleet
Metal Shark Boats recently delivered a new response boat to the Chicago Fire Department.
The all-weather-capable vessel has SHOXS shock-mitigation seating, a full Raymarine Axiom navigation suite, a Teledyne FLIR camera, a hinged dive door, and a Darley firefighting pump with a dedicated Kodiak V6 engine.
Power is provided by three Mercury Verado outboards.
Patrol boat enters service with Indiana's Jeffersonville Police Department
Metal Shark has also delivered a response boat to the Jeffersonville Police Department of Indiana.
The welded-aluminium centre console boat measures 26 feet (7.92 metres) long and is fitted with a urethane-sheathed, close-cell foam collar to provide impact protection during berthing, boarding, or alongside manoeuvres. Power is provided by two outboard engines.
The boat also has port and starboard integrated dive reliefs to facilitate boarding and recovery operations.
Australian builder delivers patrol boat to Cook Islands Police Service
Austal Australia has delivered the 15th Guardian-class patrol boat to the Australian Department of Defence, which then formally handed the vessel over to the Cook Islands Police Service's Maritime Wing.
The 39.5-metre steel monohull Te Kukupa II replaces a similarly named Pacific-class patrol boat that was donated to the Cook Islands government in 1989. Missions will include border patrols, regional policing, and search and rescue.
One notable feature on the newer patrol boat is an integrated stern launch and recovery system for a rigid inflatable boat (RIB).
