QUEENSCLIFF Coast Guard commander Michael Donohue says it will feel like losing a family member when his crew farewells its longest-serving vessel in the coming months.
The Coast Guard’s 2001 Bass Strait boat CG09 made its last rescue after 20 years, following a private sale last week between the Queenscliff flotilla and a Cairns-based company for a sum near the boat’s original listing price of $89,990.
“We’ll remember this vessel as a solid, hard-working member of the flotilla,” Mr Donohue said.
“It had the power and grunt on the big jobs, and the maneuverability to handle the smaller jobs as well, so we’re essentially losing two boats in that sense.
“It is essentially like losing a family member here at the Queenscliff Coast Guard, we loved using it out on the challenging conditions that we get out here, but sometimes it would frustrate you as well – like a family member.”
Over its 20-year career, Queenscliff’s CG09 vessel completed close to 1,500 rescue missions, brought about 3,000 people safely to shore, and completed around 6,000 on water training sessions according to the Coast Guard.
“It was a job over the Easter Holidays five years ago where we had a steering failure on the vessel, that was probably the moment where knew the boat was probably on its last legs,” Mr Donohue said.
“We’ve been supplied with an 8.5-metre Naiad as a loan vessel and we’re expecting another 10-metre loan vessel in the interim, as well as $2.1 million from the federal government to be contributed to a new vessel over which we expect to have in the next two years.”
CG09 has been stripped of its Coast Guard badges in anticipation of its transfer to Queensland.
For more updates on the flotilla, head to the Coast Guard Queenscliff page on Facebook.