A former Canadian Coast Guard hovercraft that has performed thousands of search and rescue operations on the B.C. coast is about to start a new life in the Maritimes.
The Penac has attracted attention from passersby since it settled down on Departure Bay Beach in Nanaimo on the weekend.
The craft is being prepared for a journey to New Brunswick by its new owners Gino Leblanc and Theo Gene Albert. They own and operate Northeast Diving Ltd., based in Caraquet, N.B., a business that specializes in underwater construction and repair work and contracts to Public Works and Government Services Canada. The Penac will be on its way once it is picked up by a cargo ship and transported to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
B次元官网网址淭he craft will be unloaded there and weB次元官网网址檒l take it over from there and sail it up the Atlantic on its own power, all the way up the east coast of the United States,B次元官网网址� Leblanc said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 approximately 3,500 kilometres, so I donB次元官网网址檛 think itB次元官网网址檚 been achieved before. Not with a hovercraft.B次元官网网址�
Paul Tobin, acting commanding officer of the Canadian Coast GuardB次元官网网址檚 Sea Island hovercraft base, is acting as a consultant on the craftB次元官网网址檚 preparations. He said the Penac, decommissioned in 2017, has been up for sale since, but without a buyer until now, largely because of the expense of converting it over to civilian use, moving it and bringing it back up to full serviceability.
B次元官网网址淲e ran it from 2004 to 2017,B次元官网网址� Tobin said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 probably done about 10,000 rescues B次元官网网址� WeB次元官网网址檙e glad to see that itB次元官网网址檚 repurposed and itB次元官网网址檚 going to go to a good home and itB次元官网网址檚 going to have something to do. ThereB次元官网网址檚 still lots of life in the machine. ItB次元官网网址檚 in very good condition.B次元官网网址�
The Penac was built by the British Hovercraft Corporation and started life in 1984 as the Liv Viking, ferrying up to 86 passengers at a time on 35-minute crossings of the 脰resund Strait between Malm枚, Sweden, and Copenhagen Airport, Denmark, for Scandinavian Airlines. The hovercraft service ran until 1994 when catamaran ferries took over. A bridge now crosses the strait.
The Liv Viking was purchased by Canada in 2004, refitted for search-and-rescue use and rechristened Penac, a Coast Salish word meaning B次元官网网址榝air winds.B次元官网网址�
Leblanc said the Penac B次元官网网址� the company is keeping the name B次元官网网址� can fill a number of roles, including dive support work because the craft is already configured to support that sort of operation.
B次元官网网址淲e would like to have it work,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚t will be really interesting and a really good challenge B次元官网网址� it will be a nice working vessel for underwater jobs.B次元官网网址�
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