Coast guard hovercraft service restored in B.C. after ‘unanticipated’ pilot shortage

A Canadian Coast Guard hovercraft travels on the waters of English Bay in Vancouver, B.C., on Saturday June 13, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The Canadian Coast Guard says it has resolved a crew shortage that temporarily grounded its hovercraft vessels in British Columbia last month.

The agency confirmed on Friday the vessels were operational again after a lack of qualified personnel forced the coast guard to suspend its hovercraft service on June 13.

Coast guard spokesperson Anna Muselius says the crew shortage was fixed this week, with the agency now closely monitoring hovercraft crew scheduling on a weekly basis.

“Additionally, two new pilots are in the final stages of training and will soon be available to enhance crew capacity,” Muselius said in an emailed statement to CTV News.

• Related: Canadian Coast Guard hovercraft grounded in B.C. due to crew shortages

The coast guard abruptly halted the hovercraft operations from their Sea Island Sea Island base in Richmond, citing an “unanticipated” shortage of pilots certified in the operation of air-cushioned vehicles.

The Sea Island station houses both of the coast guard’s B.C.-based hovercraft, CCGS Moytel and CCGS Siyay.

The air-cushioned vessels are commonly called upon for rapid, shallow-water responses at beaches and other areas that are otherwise inaccessible to rigid-hulled boats, including the mudflats surrounding the Vancouver airport.

A spokesperson for the Vancouver Airport Authority said last week the agency was aware of the rescue vessel outage and its potential effects on the airport’s disaster response planning.

“This is just one aspect of a potential response in the areas surrounding YVR,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “There are also a number of additional assets to support an incident,” such as helicopters and inflatable fast-rescue vessels, “to ensure safety and operational continuity,” she added.

The coast guard says it is facing the same shortage of qualified mariners that has affected the marine industry globally since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The agency currently employs an estimated 6,400 personnel across the country, including roughly 1,600 vessel crewmembers and 1,300 vessel officers.

“Crewing shortages for hovercraft pilots do not affect other Canadian Coast Guard vessels or activities in B.C.,” coast guard spokesperson Alex Coutts said in a statement to CTV News.

“Canadians and our partners can rest assured that the Canadian Coast Guard has the resources necessary to continue providing essential services.”