Cape-class motor lifeboat


The Canadian Coast Guard maintains a fleet of Cape-class motor lifeboats based on a motor lifeboat design used by the United States Coast Guard. In September 2009 the CCG announced plans to add five new lifeboats, bringing the total number of Cape-class lifeboats to 36.
The vessels are staffed by a crew of four, of which at least one is a rescue specialist. In spite of its name, the CCGS Cape Roger is a larger patrol vessel, not a Cape-class lifeboat. The CCG also maintains some larger motor lifeboats based on Arun-class lifeboats designed in the United Kingdom. In addition there is the 62 foot Bay-class motor lifeboat with a hull form along the lines of the shorter Severn-class all-weather lifeboat of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
In 2021 a contract was awarded to Ocean Pacific Marine to upgrade the Cape class over a seven year period.

Design

Cape-class motor lifeboats have displacements of 33.79 GT, total lengths of and beams of. Constructed from marine-grade aluminium, ships have draughts of. They contain two Caterpillar 3196 diesel engines providing a combined. They have two counter-rotating, four-blade propellers. Each ship's complement is four crew members and five passengers.
The lifeboats have a maximum speed of and a cruising speed of. Cape-class lifeboats have fuel capacities of and an designed operational range of when cruising. They are capable of operating in sustained wind speeds of and wave heights of. They can tow ships with displacements of up to and can withstand winds and -high breaking waves. These ships must meet stringent stability requirements.
USCG MLB47 Communication options include Raytheon 152 HF-SSB and Motorola Spectra 9000 VHF50W radios, and a Raytheon RAY 430 loudhailer system. The lifeboats also support the Simrad TD-L1550 VHF-FM radio direction finder. Raytheon provides a number of other electronic systems for the lifeboats, including the RAYCHART 620, the ST 30 heading indicator and ST 50 depth indicator, the NAV 398 global positioning system, a RAYPILOT 650 autopilot system, and either the R41X AN or SPS-69 radar systems