The rescue service’s 25-year-old rigid inflatable Russell John Chisholm was named in honour of a boy who was one of five people who died when a plane crashed into Foveaux Strait in 1998.
Riverton Coastguard skipper and president Ross McKenzie said the name has been transferred to the coastguard’s new $1.6 million replacement vessel, which is equipped with technology that will make future work faster and easier.
"It’s a great feeling to be able to get to this day," Mr McKenzie said.
"Now when we go to a scene, we can plan a lot better and do things . . . on site."
The new vessel was officially launched at a ceremony held outside the boat shed in Taramea Bay, Riverton, on Saturday.
Russell John Chisholm was a 7-year-old boy whose body was never found after he died alongside five others when a Cessna carrying 10 passengers lost power in both engines and plunged into Foveaux Strait 27 years ago.
The Chisholm family helped fundraise for the previous boat and remained connected to the coastguard.
On Saturday, Nynke and John Chisholm, the parents of Russell, declared the new vessel "officially launched" after Mrs Chisholm broke a muslin-covered Champagne bottle on the boat’s bow.
Mr Chisholm said he was emotional and that it had been "pretty amazing" for his family to be involved with the project.
Mr McKenzie said he was grateful for the family’s ongoing support.
The new boat was made possible by people like them and the hard work of the community, he said.
"It’s been a long time coming . . . and a lot of work by a lot of people has gone into to getting this to where it is today," Mr McKenzie said.
He was pleased the "seven-year slog" was finished and was grateful for the dedicated volunteers and the fundraising efforts of the Riverton community.
A local sponsor made a $200,000 donation to help complete the project.
The new boat had technology that would improve the speed of incident response.
New equipment included night vision, thermal imaging and the ability to type in search patterns.
"[It] has made this a lot faster and a lot easier for us.
Crew would be put through training to operate the new vessel, Mr McKenzie said.
