The Canadian Coast Guard announced the opening of their latest permanent station on Victoria’s Dallas Road.
“It is a great moment for maritime safety for those of us who use the waters around Greater Victoria and the Juan de Fuca Strait,” said John Sartisohn, the station’s officer-in-charge (OIC), during the virtual opening event for the $3.8 million building on Tuesday.
The building is the 14th full-time station in Victoria’s coast guard region. Since its temporary facilities opened in 2018, the station has been involved in “just shy” of 300 rescue missions, Sartisohn said.
The station is intended to be staffed by the OIC and three crew members including an engineer and two rescue specialists. Their building consists of the OIC’s office, a board room, gear and changing rooms, a kitchen, gym, dining and living quarters and a double-height workshop.
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On the water, the staff of the station will use a 14.7-metre Canadian Coast Guard lifeboat – the CCGS Cape Calvert – and a rigid inflatable hull boat.
“Canada is a proud maritime nation. Nowhere is that more evident than right here in British Columbia,” said Liberal MP Terry Beech, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.
Funding for the station and its facilities came from the government of Canada’s Oceans Protection Plan and commitment of $1.5 billion to “improve marine safety.”
“Today we celebrate the commitment to an increased capacity and an additional (search and rescue) resource, and also to all those that have and continue to support maritime safety overall and the ultimate goal of protecting lives at sea,” Sartisohn said.
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