New lifeboat on the way to Delta
Help is on the way for the Roberts Bank Lifeboat Society. Thanks to securing a sponsor to cover the transportation cost of the group’s new vessel—the M.V. Ready—is on the way from Invergordon, Scotland.
The journey started in early April and the boat’s progress can be tracked by visiting the Coast Guard station’s web site at www.robertsbanklifeboat.ca.
The vessel is now heading through the Caribbean towards the Panama Canal, and should arrive at Fraser Surrey Docks in May.
The new vessel’s passage was made possible through a fortunate turn of events. Local artist Lennart Osterlind heard in a conversation at a Longhouse Art exhibition that the Roberts Bank Lifeboat Society, was trying to find a sponsor to bring the boat to Delta on a freighter.
The artist, as it happened, is an insurance broker with connections in the shipping world. Within a couple of days, Osterlind had everything arranged through a friend, Staffan Melin of the Delta Research Corporation, who uses a freighter service based in Norway.
Star Shipping of Bergen, Norway, generously agreed to bring the new Lifeboat gratis to Delta. Their freighter on which it will travel is the M.V. Star Java.
The journey started last month in Invergordon, Scotland, where the local volunteers of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution helped to prepare the M.V. Ready’ for the journey.
The firm that the boat was purchased from, MacDonald Ferries, kindly built and donated a steel cradle to carry the vessel for the long journey. She was then trucked to the North Sea port of Hull, where she crossed to Rotterdam and finally arrived in Vlissingen where all of the loading and securing was donated by Verbrugge Zeeland Terminals which is the local port authority.
For those interested in being a part of the volunteer Coast Guard Auxiliary team, or to make a donation, visit the web site at www.robertsbanklifeboat.ca or call 604 943 9171.
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