Sept 1, 2017

The Chronicle Herald newspaper in Nova Scotia has reported that Rosborough Boats will receive $500,000 in Federal funding to help build a new line of vessels,including 12 for the Royal Canadian Navy.

Bernadette Jordan, member of Parliament for South Shore-St. Margarets announced the repayable contribution of $500,000 via ACOA’s business development program to Rosborough Boats in Beechville on August 22nd.

The funding will assist with the design, tooling and creation of molds for the new line of rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIBs) and increase opportunities for export sales.

Rosborough Boats is a family-owned, third-generation Nova Scotia builder that has previously built vessels for Environment Canada, DFO, the RCMP and the Canadian Coast Guard.

In March, Irving Shipbuilding — the prime contractor for the combat portion of the federal government’s multibillion-dollar shipbuilding strategy — announced Rosborough Boats had won a $7.3-million contract to produce 12 of their Rough Water 8.5-metre rigid hulled inflatable boats for the navy’s new fleet of six Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) being constructed by Irving.

The vessels will act as a quick rescue boat, will marshal and tow lifeboats, and deploy and support the Royal Canadian Navy’s enhanced naval boarding party.

To win the contract, the vessels had to meet a number of criteria set out by the navy, including being able to operate in the harsh Arctic environment, and will be equipped with sophisticated navigation and communication equipment, professional-grade shock mitigation seats to ensure the safety of the personnel on board during high-speed operations offshore, and offshore grade propulsion systems.

Rosborough said this funding goes beyond the vessels it is building for the navy.

“The first level of engineering and tooling is AOPS boats, but then we’re going further with that with the ACOA project,” Heaton Rosborough told the Chronicle Herald. “It’s going to encompass basically a whole new line of boats for us on our rough water platform.”