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Fireboat 15 Placed in Service - Delaware City
Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Fireboat 15 has been officially placed in service on Wednesday, November 16, 2011. Safety Officer of Marine Operations Ed Kalinowski announced at our Company Meeting after several months of training, Fireboat 15 is now in service. Fireboat 15 was purchased with a 2008 Port Security Grant. In order to submit for this grant, the vessel had to fill a gap in the U.S. Coast Guard Strategic Risk Management Plan. The plan identified several gaps that the vessel fills: 1) The Canal and river did not have any permanent fire fighting capability. 2) Vessels in the area could not safely respond to a CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear) incident 3) Response time to the area was 4 hours too long to control an incident. Based on the fact that we filled these gaps, we were awarded the grant for this vessel in September. A contract was signed with Metal Craft Marine of Kingston Ontario Canada. The keel was laid in mid December 2010. The Fire Boat committee visited the vessel three times while it was under construction. Fireboat 15 was delivered July 25, 2011. Sea Trails were held and the vessel was accepted on July 29, 2011. Since the arrival of the vessel we have had an intensive training schedule to approve operators and crew. The Fire company is represented on the U. S. Coast Guard AMSAC (Area Maritime Security Advisory Council) committee and the Delaware River & Bay Marine Fire Fighting Task Force. We have also received a 2009 Port Security Grant in the amount of $200,000 for equipment to enhance the capabilities of the vessel. We will be adding Chemical and Radiological Detection Equipment. Upgraded our Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) to a stabilized as well as adding additional crew safety and rescue equipment.