a) The Canadian Coast Guard has three hovercraft.
b) Two are based at Sea Island near Vancouver and one in Montreal.
c) The Sea Island hovercraft are the SRN6 type which are 48.4 feet long by 25.4 feet wide. Their maximum weight is 24,000 pounds including a cargo capacity of 11,000 pounds. They are used primarily for search and rescue, with one craft being on 30-minute standby, 24 hours per day. The Montreal-based hovercraft is an AP1-88/200 type. It is 80.4 feet long and 35.5 feet wide. Its maximum weight is 105,000 pounds, including a cargo capacity of 30,000 pounds. It is used to maintain navigational aids and break ice in the St. Lawrence River and numerous tributaries, as well as search and rescue.
d) The Canadian Coast Guard has two new hovercraft on order which will be delivered in 1998. One will be assigned to the Laurentian region to replace two obsolete vessels and will be used for maintaining navigational aids, ice breaking and search and
rescue. One will be assigned to Pacific region to replace the two existing craft and will be used primarily as a search and rescue craft, as well as for other tasks.
e) The two hovercraft at Sea Island are over 25 years old; therefore, it is not possible to assign a value to them. The Montreal-based hovercraft is valued at approximately $6 million.
f) The new hovercraft will cost approximately $13 million each.