St. Vincent Coast Guard meets SVG 05 Balliceaux

Residents of the Grenadines in need of urgent medical care and other emergencies will be able to reach mainland St Vincent faster through SVG 05 Balliceaux.

SVG 05 Balliceaux, a medical evacuation vessel, is the newest addition to the St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Coast Guard fleet acquired at a cost of over US $1.6 million from the Damen Shipyards Group in South Holland.

The vessel, that will be stationed on the southern Grenadine island of Canouan, was officially handed over last October 15 to the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force Coast Guard Service (RSVGCG) at the Coast Guard Base in Calliaqua.

Medical Officer of Health Dr Roger Duncan expressed his delight with the new vessel.

“This is something that we have been having conversations about for quite a long time,” said Duncan who referred to the Balliceaux as a sea ambulance.

Coast Guard Commander Brenton Cain, said the vessels currently used by the coastguard for medivac are not the best for that purpose so they welcome the addition of the SVG 05 Balliceaux.

“The challenge was routed to the Ministry of National Security and we were told to source a suitable vessel for the mission of medical evacuation.  The Government did not hesitate to support this idea.”

Cain explained that after the handing over ceremony, there will be active training of crew members, the commissioning of the vessel into the fleet and operational deployment.

The commander noted that once the training is finished and persons are certified, the boat will be placed in operation, specifically for medical evacuation, but will be deployed on other missions as the need arises.

SVG 05 Balliceaux is also fitted with top of the line firefighting equipment that can be used for ships on fire at sea and buildings close to the sea.