The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) 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. In 2021 a contract was awarded to Ocean Pacific Marine to upgrade the Cape class over a seven-year period.
The vessels are staffed by a crew of four, of which at least one is a rescue specialist. In spite of its name, is a larger patrol vessel, not a Cape-class lifeboat. The CCG also maintains some larger motor Arun-class lifeboats and s.
Design Cape-class motor lifeboats are assessed at , total lengths of and beams of . Constructed from marine-grade aluminium, ships have a draught 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
Class list + Cape class Region Ship Notes Newfoundland and Labrador Cape Fox Cape Norman Maritimes Cap Breton Cape Spry Cap Nord Quebec Cap d'Espoir Cap de Rabast Cap Rozier Cap Tourmente Cap Percé Central and Arctic Cape Chaillon Cape Commodore Cape Discovery Cape Dundas Cape Hearne Thunder Cape Cape Mercy Cape Providence Cape Lambton Cape Storm Cape Rescue Pacific Cape Ann Cape Cockburn Cape Farewell Cape Naden Cape McKay Cape Mudge Cape Sutil Cape Calvert Cape CautionCape PalmerstonCape DauphinCape Kuper Cape St-James
References
External links
Canadian Coast Guard Datasheet on the 47 MLB US Coast Guard Datasheet on the 47 MLB USCG COMDTINST M16114.25B 47ft Motor lifeboat operator's handbook MetalCraft Marine contractor for the CCG 47 MLB military.com