Changi Airport unveils new search and rescue boats to boost response to incidents at sea

SINGAPORE: Three types of new sea rescue vessels have been added to Changi Airport’s emergency services team to boost its firefighting and search and rescue capabilities.
The boats were showcased in the airport’s annual crisis simulation exercise on Thursday (Oct 17), which involved nearly 20 agencies and more than 200 participants. 
The new vessels – Landing Craft, Command Craft and Fast Craft – will replace older craft that will reach their end of life by this year, said Changi Airport Group (CAG), which manages the airport, in a press release. 
Each vessel has a uniform maximum speed of 40 knots, an increase from 20 knots for the first-generation vessels, which include hovercrafts and inflatable boats.
CAG’s Airport Emergency Service (AES) team is in charge of handling crashes at the airport, firefighting, rescue operations, as well as other emergencies involving dangerous goods, bomb warnings, and chemical or biological threats. 
The vessels operate from a sea rescue base, located off the waters of Changi Airport, which is designed to handle aircraft crashes in the waters surrounding the airport and similar accidents out at sea.
The base was the only location where hovercrafts were operated in Singapore.
The new Landing Craft will replace AES’ current hovercraft, and will serve the same functions of firefighting and casualty management.
It will also be able to be beached like a hovercraft and will have the same capacity of 50 passengers, said CAG.
The Command Craft is designed to coordinate rescue efforts during emergencies. It has the same capacity as the current boat performing the same task – three crew members and 12 passengers – but has a better communication system, said CAG.
There will be two Fast Crafts, which can carry out firefighting, water surface rescue efforts and transport casualties. Each vessel holds 19 passengers – almost twice as many compared to the rigid inflatable boat it is replacing. 
Mr Andrew Ong, AES’ deputy commander for civil, said that CAG’s investment in new technology “ensures that the search and rescue capabilities of our Airport Emergency Service remain high, and can be counted on to make a positive difference when the unexpected happens”.