NSW Maritime has welcomed the first of five new incident response vessels into its fleet.
The Australian-built vessels were designed to support first responders in maritime incidents and emergencies.
NSW Maritime plans to station the vessels at key maritime bases in Northern New South Wales, the South Coast and the State Marine Incident Coordination Centre in Sydney.
The $700,00 incident co-ordination centre was launched in October last year as a central hub for response natural disasters and maritime events.
“These boats have the grunt to provide maritime crews with a capability uplift to operate across different environments such as aquatic events, natural disasters and marine pollution incidents,” NSW transport minister Jo Haylen said.
Each vessel is 5.3 metres long and fitted with a stabilised camera that can be viewed locally or streamed and controlled from the State Marine Incident Coordination Centre.
“Using their cameras, these boats are equipped to provide real time intelligence directly from the field,” Ms Haylen said.
“They will be able to assist in emergency operations such as flooding or bushfires, reach residents in remote communities, help with major aquatic events and improve wharf and bridge inspections.”
Each vessel will have capacity for two crew members and six passengers.
The remaining four vessels are due to enter service over the next 12 months.
