SVG adds Captain Hugh Mulzac to Coastguard fleet of ships

Last Saturday, after travelling nearly 5,000 miles, a US$7 million, 140 ft craft which will soon head the coastguard’s fleet, motored into St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

The vessel, dubbed ‘Captain Hugh Mulzac,’ pulled into the cruise ship berth at 9:45 a.m. on December 15, and at approximately 5 p.m. on that same day, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves was taken on a guided tour of the new vessel.

The Prime Minister noted that the vessel’s name ‘Captain Hugh Mulzac’, was in recognition of Hugh Mulzac, a man originally from Union Island, who was the first black man to captain a US merchant vessel.

The sixth addition to the coastguard’s fleet, which will surpass any vessel currently in the fleet by 100ft, was built by the Damen company in the Netherlands, and delivered across the Atlantic by Damen employees, and coastguard officers from Holland.

Among the officials touring the vessel were the Prime Minister, Commissioner of Police Colin John, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security Godfred Pompey, and Commander Brenton Caine of the Coastguard.

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves (left) is shown the technology at the Captain’s disposal, by one of the crew, which includes a X-band radar.

The coastguard officers are keeping some of the boat specifications, for example the fastest speed the vessel can reach, undisclosed for security reasons.

However, the craft is set to be used to patrol the exclusive economic zone around SVG, wherein it may be required to patrol up to 200 nautical miles around the island, save where there are other agreements with Barbados, Grenada or St Lucia. It is expected to assist in the capture of vessels that may be involved in drug trafficking, or human trafficking.

During the tour, the Prime Minister was shown the technology at the Captain’s disposal, which includes a X-band radar.

The radar, a coastguard officer explained, will show 96 nautical miles around the ‘Captain Hugh Mulzac’, and other vessels will appear on the screen as triangles.

“You will see the vessels, but to know exactly what they are there is additional intelligence,” Gonsalves stated. He further explained, “we have two c26 aircraft from the regional security system operating…doing surveillance, and they have infrared facilities, so they will see exactly what’s happening, and they can then give the co-ordinates, say well, listen, there’s some bad gals, and guys, trafficking in persons, they are taking arms, suspected of cocaine.”

The Prime Minister indicated that there is a maintenance contract with Damen, which is continuous, but annualized.

A coastguard officer disclosed that the new vessel has accommodation for over 19 persons.

When asked about training for the coastguard officers, as it regards the technology for the craft, Commander Brenton Caine assured, “All these are capable seamen.”

There was apparently three weeks training in Holland with Damen, and the company is supposed to be coming to SVG in January to conduct around six weeks of training.

Caine compared the technology to an app on a cellphone, and said that once you have the basics, you understand it in a flash.

An official launch ceremony is slotted to take place on January 16.