The Prince Rupert Port Authority’s new 36 foot Patrol Boat is now complete and ready to be launched.
She’s come a long way since her keel was first laid last June and now the finishing touches are being put on the new Patrol Boat that will be the Prince Rupert Port Authority’s flagship vessel. It’s also become Broadwater Industries’ flagship boat since it’s the largest one they’ve ever built.
“We’ve been working on this vision I guess for the Port for 3 or 4 years and we knew we needed a new patrol boat and then when you go through all the processes of trying to find the right builder and finding that builder in Prince Rupert and I gotta say again that Broadwater has delivered in spades a beautiful ship. It’s going to do everything and more that we expect it to do and I think it kind of shows that the Port of Prince Rupert and Prince Rupert is growing and a nice new ship is part of that.” Says Harbour Master Gary Paulson .
The boat is named after Prince Rupert Founder Charles Hays who died when the RMS Titanic which he was a passenger aboard, struck and iceberg on April 14 1912. That’s exactly 99 years to the day of the launching of this Charles Hays Vessel. Paulson was quick to defend the irony of it all.
“It actually didn’t sink till April 15th so we felt pretty good about that.” Says Paulson. “You know to be honest with you it all surrounds when the boat would be available and corresponds with the tides. Having Said that I think Charles Hays that I think Charles Hays who did go down with the Titanic on April 15th would be very very happy to see this beautiful new boat built right here in Prince Rupert that’s going to give the community service for many many years to come and I think the champagne bottle will be the biggest risk that the boat sees on April 14th.”
Next Thursday at 11am at high tide, Charles Hays will be christened and formally named at Rushbrook floats before being launched into the harbour. Paulson is inviting everyone in the community to attend the special event so long as they don’t question him about the irony behind the launch date.
*Photo: Prince Rupert Port Authority
( CJFW )
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Source: CJFW, April 8, 2011; Image: RupertPort