In June 2020, Two Oceans Marine Manufacturing de-moulded the first locally manufactured NSRI Offshore Rescue Craft cabin.
This video gives one a sneak peak of what de-moulding entails.
The NSRI relies on funding to keep South African water users safe – please support the NSRI
The NSRI is currently the only maritime rescue service operating in South African territorial water. Although most rescues are coastal and inshore, many rescues require search and rescue vessels with advanced capability in technology, and the ability to safely increase the endurance of the crew further out to sea.
The NSRI’s fleet of 10m and 12m rescue vessels (known as Class 1 rescue vessels) were ready to be retired. The NSRI committed to produce top class rescue boats that are suited to severe conditions to their volunteer crew. The NSRI therefore needed to replace the current Class 1 rescue boats with craft that are well suited to the Search and Rescue missions including deep sea operations, medical evacuations and mass rescue incidents. The vessel that they selected to fulfil this role is the 14m SAR (Search and Rescue) ORC (Offshore Rescue Craft)
After extensive research and development, the decision was made to have the first vessel, a 14m SAR ORC Alick Rennie built to completion in France and the second vessel, the Donna Nicholas built as a hull, deck and bulkheads in France, to be completed locally in South Africa. Both vessels were designed by naval architects Pantocarene and manufactured by Bernard Shipyard in France.
After a two- year long build project, these vessels were successfully delivered in Cape Town in March 2020.
‘It is our vision to support local people and local industries by having our rescue boats built in South Africa,’ said CEO Dr Cleeve Robertson. To this end, the NSRI selected Two Oceans Marine Manufacturing to partner with the NSRI to build the future generation of deep sea search and rescue fleet in Cape Town.
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