Bridgemans Services Group (Bridgemans), the world’s premier provider of floatels and related marine services, announced that its new SAR vessel, ’úya, (meaning saltwater in the Haisla language) passed sea trials and will be on its way to Kitimat, British Columbia for deployment on Canada’s rugged West Coast. The state-of-the-art vessel was built at Reyse Marine in North Saanich, BC and was designed by BC-based ER Yacht Design.
“Bridgemans is thrilled to welcome ’úya, which offers a wide range of best-in-class features that reflect our commitment to introducing new vessels with the latest technologies to West Coast waters,” said Brian Grange, President, Bridgemans. “’úya has been designed and constructed with innovation, safety and reliability in mind, to help ensure that our clients receive the best service and best assets available when hiring our modern fleet of multipurpose workboats and SAR, personal transfer and floatel support vessels.”
SAR vessel, ’úya offers firefighting capabilities such as large capacity fire guns. Its search and rescue capabilities include an open deck, transom and side doors that provide ready and safe access to ocean waters for recovery and benches that securely support stretchers and enable medical assistance.
The 44-foot vessel, which reaches speeds of 41.5 knots and cruises in a range of 32 to 34 knots depending on sea state, is also equipped for emergency spill response. It offers forward looking infrared (FLIR) cameras to improve vision at night and through light fog and smoke along with acoustics systems to support marine monitoring activities. It will also serve as a pilot boat that can push or pull other vessels and help ships navigate coastal waters. ’úya is powered by twin 550-horsepower jet drives and, as an aluminum vessel with a rugged hull that can withstand the impacts of logs and debris, it can be driven onto a beach.
“’úya sets a new benchmark in the Canadian maritime industry for performance and versatility,” said ER Yacht Design President Ivan Erdevick, an award-winning naval architect with more than 200 vessels to his credit. “It is comfortable and capable, and the most advanced vessel of its kind that we have designed and built. As a long-time naval architect and resident of West Vancouver, BC, I believe that ’úya will capture the imagination of British Columbians and be a vessel that we can all be proud of.”
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