USCG orders 39 response boats
The US Coast Guard (USCG) has placed a $15 million order with Metal Shark Aluminum Boats for 39 Response Boats-Small II (RB-S IIs) and associated equipment, it announced on 8 August.
The boats will be produced and delivered through to July 2017. This order will bring the number of RB-S II ordered by the coast guard to 263. A total of 204 have been delivered by the company to date.
The RB-S II is a 29ft high-speed platform that can be deployed close to shore for missions such as drug and migrant interdiction, environmental response, port security, law enforcement and search and rescue.
The boats can travel at speeds exceeding 40 knots, and are designed to reduce crew fatigue. They are replacing the 25ft RB-S boats that are reaching the end of their planned ten-year service lives.
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