The service, operated by St John, acts as an accident and emergency ambulance, which helps with issues at sea, on ships and neighbouring islands.
But a mechanical fault was discovered during routine annual maintenance of the Flying Christine III in February, forcing the vessel to be taken out of service.
St John Ambulance & Rescue Service operations lead Stuart Malley said the vessel was 29 years old and had a 30-year design life.
‘While the vessel is well maintained, the global supply chain crisis has resulted in long delays in obtaining parts from the USA,’ he said.
‘We have had superb support and service from the local marine industry, but the availability of the parts has been out of our control.’
Back in March the charity confirmed the vessel had suffered a gearbox failure and that had delayed it returning to service.
Parts to fix that problem have still not arrived. Until they do, St John said it could not say when the vessel, currently situated at Boatworks, could return to service.
When it comes to reviewing the future of the vessel and how to keep it operating, it is understood one option being explored with the possibility of keeping more spare parts on-island.
While the vessel is out of service, the St Peter Port lifeboat, along with commercial vessels Brecqhou Chief and Access Challenger, have all been deployed in recent weeks as relief vessels on medical missions.
Since February the lifeboat has been dispatched with an ambulance service medical team on board on 14 occasions, with nine missions to Sark, three to Herm and one to a visiting cruise ship. These were mostly serious or life-threatening medical conditions.
The Brecqhou Chief has been deployed twice to Herm and once to Sark for three less urgent medical cases or transfers.
The Access Challenger has also been used once for a medical case in Sark.
The relief vessels were made available under existing and previous used contingency plans which were enacted when a mechanical fault was discovered during routine annual maintenance of the Flying Christine III in February.
SJARS chief executive officer Mark Mapp added that the fact that there have been 18 marine ambulance missions so far this year proved the need for a dedicated marine ambulance.
He thanked the other vessels for their ongoing support.
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