Coast Guard Station East Moriches recieves new shallow water boat

Click the image above for a high-res stock photo of the SPC-SW underway

NEW YORK- Coast Guard Station East Moriches received a new boat type in to aid in Coast Guard operations around Long Island Sound, Nov. 23, 2010.

Coast Guard Station East Moriches, on the South Shore of Long Island, received a new 24-foot Special Purpose Craft - Shallow Water (SPC-SW), designed for use in a variety of missions including search and rescue, law enforcement, and port, waterway, and coastal security.

The SPC-SW, designed especially for shallow water use, can reach speeds of more than 40 miles per hour, tow vessels weighing up to five tons and has a draft of only two feet, six inches. This shallow draft provides Coast Guard crews greater mobility on the water, particularly in Moriches Bay where charted depths are likely to change and waterways are confined and hard to reach by rescue crews in larger boats.

Station East Moriches was involved in or responded to over 60 search and rescue cases during Summer 2010, including 20 disabled or aground vessels, five sinking vessels, eight cases of people in the water and two vessels on fire. Prior to the acceptance of the SPC-SW, Coast Guard Station East Moriches' only other shallow water response boat was the slightly larger 25-foot Response Boat, which drafts three feet, three inches.

The additional boat is part of the nationwide process to upgrade the Coast Guard's aging fleet of cutters and small boats with newer vessels, such as the SPC-SW. By working with other federal, state, and local agencies, as well as improving our fleet of small boats and cutters, the Coast Guard continues to become better prepared for challenging search and rescue missions around Long Island's waterways.

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