Lifeboat Equipment

The equipment provided on each SAR vessel, is vastly different from that found on a recreational or commercial vessel.

The rescue vessels are equipped for high speed, all weather, day & night marine SAR (Search and Rescue) operations; often at night or restricted visibility in high winds and seas. For such missions the vessels carry complex communications equipment, sophisticated navigation electronics with radar coupled with GPS & electronic charts.

The lifeboats are equipped with powerful searchlights, pumping equipment to “de-water” foundering vessels, towing, fire suppression, first aid, medical, casualty management and crew equipment. Communications systems, lighting systems, and propulsion systems are robust and in are generally duplicated for mission redundancy.

Search and rescue use is intensive, and often under adverse conditions. The result is that engines wear at an estimated three times that of recreational boating; searchlights and navigation equipment place a heavy drain on electrical power; and high corrosion of the aluminum hulls and equipment from salt water and spray is experienced.