Cape-class motor lifeboat

The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) maintains a fleet of 14.6 m 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.

The vessels are staffed by a crew of four, two of whom are rescue specialists. In spite of its name, the CCGS Cape Roger is a larger patrol vessel, not a Cape-class lifeboat. The CCG also maintains some larger motor lifeboats based on Arun-class lifeboats designed in the United Kingdom. In 2021 a contract was awarded to Ocean Pacific Marine to upgrade the class over a 7 year period.

Design
Cape-class motor lifeboats have displacements of 20 ST, total lengths of 47 ft and beams of 14 ft. Constructed from marine-grade aluminium, ships have draughts of 4 ft. They contain two Caterpillar 3196 diesel engines providing a combined 900 shp. They have two 28 x 36 in four-blade propellers, and each ship's complement is four crew members and five passengers.

The lifeboats have maximum speeds of 25 kn and cruising speeds of 22 kn. Cape-class lifeboats have fuel capacities of 400 USgal and ranges of 200 nmi when cruising. They are capable of operating at wind speeds of 50 kn and wave heights of 30 ft. They can tow ships with displacements of up to 150 t and can withstand 60 kn winds and 20 ft-high breaking waves.

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.