July 19 - 25, 2015: Issue 223

  New $470,000 Rescue Boat Arrives at New Home in Cottage Point

  Cottage Point 30 on course for home. Photo courtesy Patrick O’Brien

 New $470,000 Rescue Boat Arrives at New Home in Cottage Point

July 12, 2015

A new $470,000 offshore rescue vessel has arrived at the Marine Rescue Cottage Point unit, boosting the emergency capability of Marine Rescue NSW volunteers on Northern Sydney waters.  

MR Cottage Point Unit Commander Paul Millar said members have been out in force to inspect the keenly-anticipated Cottage Point 30 and familiarise themselves with their new rescue vessel.

The 11.5m vessel was built by Sailfish Catamarans in Alstonville, inland from Ballina on the NSW North Coast.

After passing its sea trials on the Richmond River at Ballina in mid-June, it was trucked south to Sydney and was launched at Brooklyn where MR Cottage Point crew members took over and steered it home.

“The Sailfish is the largest twin-hulled vessel in the Marine Rescue fleet,” UC Millar said.

“Its eight-tonne aluminium-hulled sturdiness will make it ideally suited for emergency operations up to 35nm offshore.

“It will also able to navigate in the tight, shallow bays and waterways of Broken Bay and to beach in otherwise inaccessible areas of the National Park in medical emergencies

“This spectacular new boat will be a significant improvement to rescue operations on northern Sydney waters, providing a state of the art vessel on call 24-7 to assist the boating community.

“It will become an important part of Marine Rescue’s strategic search and rescue safety net of offshore vessels covering this region,” he said.

Marine Rescue NSW Commissioner Stacey Tannos said Cottage Point 30 was a significant investment in the safety of the many local and visiting boaters on the picturesque northern waterways and also of the Cottage Point volunteers.

“It is the latest vessel delivered in our ongoing rescue fleet modernisation program, which has delivered 61 new and refurbished rescue vessels to our units at a cost of more than $14 million,” he said.

“These modern, purpose-designed and built rescue vessels are ensuring our volunteers have reliable, effective and above all safe boats for their vital work to save lives on the water.”

Cottage Point 30 is powered by twin 300hp Suzuki engines and can reach speeds of around 28 knots (52 km/h).

State of the art electronics installed on MRNSW vessels include, Raymarine FLIR, AIS, Navigation/Sounder Multi Function Displays and Radar. Sailor VHF, GME 27Mhz and TAIT DCN marine radios.

Advanced first aid equipment including cardiac defibrillator and oxygen is also on-board as standard.

 Report by Marine Rescue New South Wales, 2015.  Photos courtesy Port Jackson Marine Rescue and Patrick O’Brien