MARPAC is in the process of introducing eight of the new Orca Class harbour craft, a small but flexible vessel ideal for the West Coast environment, and though she is destined to be a training vessel, she has much more capability available to her, and we plan to use these ships to the full.

Sea-going light vessels, fire-floats, floating cranes and other vessels, the navigability of which is subsidiary to their main function (excl. dredgers, floating or submersible drilling or production platforms; fishing vessels and warships)

Sea-going light vessels, fire-floats, floating cranes and other vessels, the navigability of which is subsidiary to their main function (excl. dredgers, floating or submersible drilling or production platforms; fishing vessels and warships)

These are not the unstaffed lighthouses or lighthouses that will soon be turned into museums, but staffed lighthouses that employ thousands of people, workers who are on call 24 hours a days, 7 days a week to provide ears and eyes on our coast as well as assistance in times of need.

7 port service vessels, including pilot boats, tugs, lighters, etc.; .

Cuts we believe to be unwise include excessive reduction in the number of vessels and the subsequent reassignment of remaining vessels, resulting in units not fully capable of responding in search and rescue operations (reassigning The Point Race, for example, a vessel specially fitted to deal with the high speed, tidal currents in Discovery Passage near Campbell River to Port Hardy and replacing it with a vessel lacking its capabilities); destaffing lighthouses, which serve as important navigational aids for aviators as well as mariners, without providing an alternative for the essential services they provide; and reducing certain services to only ...[+++] a twelve hour standby when emergencies can happen at any time.