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‘Rock star’ of water rescue

Caitlyn WattsPilbara News
Exmouth's Cape Endeavour rescue vessel.
Camera IconExmouth's Cape Endeavour rescue vessel.

Emergency response times along the Exmouth coast have improved thanks to a new purpose-built rescue vessel worth more than $300,000.

The Cape Endeavour vessel and trailer cost $330,000 to build to help Marine Rescue Exmouth respond more quickly to incidents on the west side of the North West Cape Peninsula rather than having to journey by sea from the group’s base on the east side of the cape.

Since her delivery in February, the vessel has already attended five incidents, helping cut response times to the busy western cape by half.

The 7.5m vessel is fitted with the latest communications and radar technology and has been customised to navigate hazardous North West Cape waters.

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Marine Rescue Exmouth Commander Michael Ellis, pictured, said the vessel allowed the group to undertake rescues significantly faster than before.

“She’s a bloody rock star. We have done five official jobs with her so far. Two of those have been critical. She has done everything to satisfy every argument that we put up for getting her in the first place, and some,” he said.

“There has been a few tragedies that she has had to deal with so far, and whilst the outcomes could have been better, thanks to her abilities in giving us the ability to do things a lot faster than what we have been able to, there were some good positive results out of it all the same.” Mr Ellis said it was important to have the vessel to keep up with the busy period.

However, he urged the public always to be aware of their own safety.

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