The Canadian Coast Guard took the wraps off a new $3.8-million search-and-rescue station in Victoria on Tuesday.
The facility on the coast guard’s compound in James Bay will accommodate
Rotating full-time crews who will respond to human and environmental emergencies on the South Island will work from the station, which is at the coast guard’s compound in James Bay. Those crews will work with other agencies, such as the Royal Canadian Navy, RCMP, local police forces and other first responders.
The station is being supported by the 15-metre lifeboat CCGS Cape Calvert, and two high-speed Zodiac vessels, said station commander John Sartisohn.
Marine infrastructure for the Victoria station vessels is projected for completion by 2023.
Since being established in 2018, a temporary search-and rescue-station has completed about 300 missions on the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Victoria Harbour, said Sartisohn.
They included evacuating people with medical emergencies aboard deep-sea vessels, rescues from sinking boats and answering calls for kite surfers and recreational boaters in distress.
The new station is being funded through the federal government’s $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan.
Coast guard officials provided a virtual tour of the new facility on Tuesday.
The building has office and meeting space, as well as living quarters on the second floor for the station crew. Solar panels have been installed on the roof to offset a portion of the station’s energy consumption.
It is staffed 24 hours a day by an officer, engineer and two leading seaman and rescue specialists.
They are ready to respond to any maritime emergency in the area, said Sartisohn, noting calls usually increase during summer months when boating and recreational activities ramp up.
The station includes a double-height workshop for vessel maintenance, a first-aid room, as well as an equipment drying room and gear storage.
Post-disaster construction standards were built into the station and include placing the electrical and communications room onto the second floor to avoid tsunami water levels.
Bernadette Jordan, minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, said the Oceans Protection Plan continues to invest in infrastructure, personnel and equipment to respond to emergencies at sea.
There are now 13 full-time coast guard search-and-rescue stations in B.C.
“From expanding the Coast Guard Auxiliary, to new SAR stations, to reopening the Kitsilano Coast Guard Station, we’re strengthening marine safety and response times from coast to coast to coast,” she said.
“The new station in Victoria is the latest milestone, and I look forward to seeing it serve Canadians for decades to come.”
Jordan noted the coast guard’s Indigenous Community Boat Volunteer Pilot Program is another way to enhance operations. The Ahousaht First Nation recently launched a new response vessel to work and train with the coast guard and other first responders to support rescues on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
The coast guard is opening additional search-and-rescue stations in Hartley Bay and Tahsis, and a multi-purpose marine response facility is planned in Port Renfrew.
Three search-and-rescue stations have also been opened in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The cost for those and the Victoria station is pegged at $108.1 million.
Ongoing funding of $12.2 million also creates 56 new positions for the three stations on the both coasts.
dkloster@timescolonist.com
