Equipment of the Canadian Coast Guard

The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) maintains a fleet of sea and lake going vessels, hovercraft, and aircraft. The variety of equipment allows the CCG to perform its mandated functions of navaids and sea-going transportation management, search and rescue, marine pollution response and the support of other Canadian federal authorities.

The Fleet Directorate is responsible for all ships and their manning requirements. It manages and operates a fleet of 118 vessels in support of: CCG aids to navigation; icebreaking; environmental response; and search and rescue (SAR). The CCG fleet also supports Department of Fisheries and Oceans's Fisheries Conservation and Protection and Marine Science programs.

The ships, ranging from search and rescue lifeboats to icebreakers, are tasked to various programs, often concurrently, and are crewed by 2400 skilled seagoing personnel. Most vessels have between 5 and 30+ crewmembers.

All CCG vessels are painted uniformly regardless of their use. They are characterized by a red hull and white superstructure, designed to look like a "floating Canadian flag". Their hulls bear a (primarily) white stripe raked forward at a 60 degree angle on each side forward. Larger vessels display a red maple leaf on the funnel. Ship nameplates are typically affixed to the superstructure, and vessels are typically named for persons or places of historic or geographic significance.

Throughout the 1960s—1990s, the CCG painted primary SAR vessels in a different colour scheme: bright mustard yellow superstructure and maple leaf red hull, meant to distinguish them from navaid tenders and icebreakers, and also to improve their visibility on the open ocean in breaking waves. Today, the only distinguishing markings for primary SAR vessels is the large RESCUE-SAUVETAGE lettering on the superstructure. Vessels carry the "Canada" 'federal wordmark', which incorporates the duotone version of the national flag. The words Coast Guard/Garde Cotière appear side by side on the hull.

The prefix "Canadian Coast Guard Ship", abbreviated CCGS, is affixed to all vessels. Minor vessels such as patrol boats and lifeboats carried the prefix "Canadian Coast Guard Cutter", abbreviated CCGC in the past, however, this is no longer the case.

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