“Nunavut officials press for an Arctic search and rescue base: 'If we have a major incident up here, we are in a very bad position to be able to respond … it would have taken the Canadian Coast Guard about two days to reach the ship ..." (CBC reporting, Saputi near sinking incident, 2016)  

"They can put up an aircraft for a number of hours at a time and monitor the situation but there’s no substitute for having a naval ship on station," said Independent Teachta Dála (Deputy) Cathal Berry, speaking to Irish Times. "They were no more than 13 nautical miles off the coast of Kerry and (not having a ship available is) simply just not good enough for a sovereign state." (Irish Times as reported in The Maritime Executive, 2023)  

In responding to a maritime incident, be it Search and Rescue, shipboard fire, coastal sovereignty enforcement, pollution response, smuggling interdiction, or other issues, nothing is as effective as having a ship on scene. However, ships are expensive, trained crews an increasingly scarce resource, and speed in heavy weather may be restricted by crew health and safety considerations.  

The potential usefulness and benefits of an Optionally Crewed Coast Guard Vessel is explored in this presentation. It could be based in a small port, sailing with no or minimum crew, or perhaps loitering on station offshore. A range of operating scenarios and applications will be investigated. Interaction with other resources, such as SAR Techs and environmental response personnel will be considered. Data on historical incidents and potential future incidents will be evaluated. Conceptual design arrangements and operating profiles will be presented.