Official Launch of MV Guardian
Sun, 2006-12-03
At 10:30am today, the Bermuda Police Service held a press conference outside its Marine Unit offices at Barr's Bay Park in the City of Hamilton to officially launch the MV Guardian. Dignitaries present included H. E. The Governor, Sir John Vereker, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mrs. Roseanda Young, Chief Fire Officer Mr. Vincent Hollinsid as well as officials from H. M. Customs and Marine & Ports.
MV Guardian is a mono-hull design, built by Austal/Image Corporation in Western Australia and is one of seven vessels built; the other six were purchased by Australia's Sydney Water Police. Austal/Image is a leading company in the design and construction of Customized Aluminium Commercial & Defence vessels. The body is marine grade aluminium and is 54 feet in length with a draft of 4 feet. MV Guardian has a cruising speed of 20 knots with a 400 nautical mile range. The vessel is designed to operate up to 200 nautical miles offshore and comes with an array of communication and navigation equipment to compliment her role and capabilities.
MV Guardian came to Bermuda on Sunday, September 24, 2006 after a long journey from Australia and a brief stop in Savannah Georgia, U.S.A. After sea trials in our local waters and familiarization exercises for our local Police Marine Unit, the Commissioner of Police is confident that this vessel will be a welcome addition to the maritime environment. The vessel will be based in Hamilton for general patrol, search & rescue, dive operations and general assistance to Police units and governmental agencies.
From May 19 - 26, 2006 the Bermuda Police Service held a competition to name its new Police boat, which was open to all elementary, middle school and high school students across the island. On Monday, May 29, a panel consisting of Police personnel, a member of the local education system and a member of the local marine community selected the name of the vessel, after much discussion, from the 98 entries received. To ensure the process was fair, the panel was only read the boat name and the accompanying paragraph explaining why that name was chosen - not the student's name or the name of the student's school. Also, during the process some names were eliminated because another vessel which was already in service had that particular name.
The name 'Guardian' was submitted by Bermuda High School student Freya Lawrence and ultimately chosen as the name of the new Police
