Babylon Town purchasing water rescue boat

The Town of Babylon is looking to beef up its response to emergencies on the Great South Bay and beyond with the purchase of a specialized boat designed for water rescues.

The town has contracted with Safe Boats International LLC, of Bremerton, Washington, to build a customized 31-foot Emergency Medical Transport boat for $775,514.

The all-weather aluminum boat will be able to fit two patients on stretchers in a climate-controlled cabin. With a 12-person capacity, it will allow the town to take on multiple passengers if a boat capsizes, said Gerard Gigante, the town’s public safety commissioner.

The boat also will have radiation detection and thermal imaging for weapons detection and nighttime use, Gigante said. It’s the first time the town will have all of these capabilities on the water, he said.

“Most municipalities on Long Island have at least one [Safe] boat, but we don’t have any,” Gigante said, adding that municipalities, including the U.S. Coast Guard, often work together on rescues. “Everyone who has the ability to go in water, especially ocean water, is using this boat or something similar.”

Gigante said the move to catch up with other municipalities is part of the town’s overall emphasis on improving public safety. The town consolidated divisions to create a new public safety department in 2021, when Gigante was hired after having retired as Suffolk County police’s chief of detectives.

'Increases our capabilities'

The town has three older 24-foot boats, which are fiberglass, that don’t have inside stretcher space and aren’t able to go out into the ocean or be used in the winter, Gigante said. In an emergency off the coast, the closest ambulances come from Babylon Village and must cross the Robert Moses Bridge, Gigante said.

“The fact that the Robert Moses does clog up during busy times in the summer definitely adds to the necessity to be equipped for a rescue down by the water,” he said.

With a marina near Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip, the new boat will be able to pull in and drop off patients, he said.

“This really increases our capabilities,” Gigante said, noting the boat’s design will allow for beach rescues, too. “Now we’ll be able to assist the county, Islip Town and the Coast Guard on any rescues.”

Suffolk County police’s marine bureau has eight Safe boats and performed 296 search and rescues in 2023, the latest year for which data is available, according to a spokeswoman.

Islip Town has had one in use since 2008, according to officials, but recently decommissioned it and is in the process of purchasing a new one. Islip assisted with nine search and rescues last year, said Anthony Prudenti, the town’s public safety commissioner.

“Ever since COVID, there’s been so much more boating activities,” Prudenti said. “The water has never been so popular as it is now.”

Joe Russo, a sergeant harbormaster for Islip, said the town regularly handles incidents such as boat collisions and fires. Safe boats have a low platform, making it easier to pull people out of the water, he said. In addition, because Safe boats have an aluminum hull, there is less maintenance and wear and tear on the boat compared with fiberglass.

“It’s just a better boat for government use,” Russo said.

Assistance from federal grant

To help pay for the boat, Babylon is using a Port Security grant, administered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The grant reimburses 75% of the $775,000 cost of the boat, with the town bonding for $200,000 for the remainder.

Scott Clanton, Safe Boats’ director of business development for the East Coast and the Caribbean, estimates the town’s boat won’t be ready until next year. He cited a lag time for federal funding and a company backlog.

The town applied last year for the grant but did not get it. Clanton, a former U.S. Marine, helped the town refine its application to make sure it would align with Coast Guard standards.

Clanton and town officials said the Coast Guard has shut down many area commands, making equipment such as Safe boats more necessary for municipalities.

“Agencies that used to have the Coast Guard more readily around them aren’t seeing those guys as much anymore,” he said.

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.