New fisheries boat 'should be fit for many purposes'
MAKING the replacement for the Leopardess as universally useful as possible would make it worth the money, a deputy has said.
Commerce and Employment has proposed that the sea fisheries protection vessel should be replaced, at a cost of up to , if the States agrees to spending up to £2.625m.
on a new boat.
Deputy Barry Paint, a former marine pilot, said he would like the vessel to be used in more ways, including as reserve transport for emergency medical cases in Alderney and Sark if aircraft were unable to assist or the lifeboat was unavailable.
'If we kept this boat for another 10 years it wouldn't last, then it would cost a lot more, without question,' he said.
He said it was about getting a balance, with maximising what the vessel could do while recognising there would be things it could not do.
Deputy Paint gave examples, such as having the ability to work as an ambulance, but also having it available for all the enforcement services.
He recognised that sea fisheries work was important, but, if a life was at stake, he asked, what would be more important?
