Coastguard Thames Welcomes Refurbished Rescue Vessel

Coastguard’s Thames newly refurbished rescue vessel, Thames Rescue, is back on the water and ready to keep local boaties safe at sea.
 
The vessel, a 6.8m Naiad powered by two 150 hp Evinrude engines, has been involved in over 250 rescues during its 11 years with the unit and has just completed its mid-life refit.
 
The refurbishment included installing a new electronics suite with 3G radar, M Series Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) camera and chart plotters as well as a newly painted exterior.
 
President of Coastguard Thames, Mike Skeet, says “Our volunteers risk their lives every day to save New Zealanders in trouble on the water. They don’t ask a cent for the work they do, just the right training and equipment we need to do the job safely.

“This refurbishment will not only extend the operational life of the vessel, but with the new electronics suite, the vessel will be even more capable in search and rescue operations.”
 
Fundraising support for the refurbishment came from Trust Waikato, donations from the local communityas well as the ongoing, generous support from the New Zealand Community Trust.
 
Mr Skeet says volunteers from the Unit are extremely grateful to everyone who contributed and the crew arealready enjoying putting the vessel through her paces and testing out the new electronics suite. 
 
“We were recently called for assistance on a night where there was no moonlight and while this would usually  pose difficulties, we were able to find our way much more easily with the new radar and FLIR camera.”
 
Twenty-one committed volunteers belong to the Coastguard Unit at Thames. Over the past year (July 2011 to April 2012), these volunteers have dedicated over 795 hours of their time to fulfilling Coastguard’s community promise of saving lives at sea.  They have been involved in 17 calls for assistance and bringing 36 people back to safety.

ENDS

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