Founded in 1997, SAFE Boats International is an American-based boat manufacturer. SAFE stands for Secure All-around Flotation Equipped. Their headquarters is near

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

in neighboring

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerto ...

. SAFE Boats International manufactures vessels for military, law enforcement, fire and rescue, and other agencies. SAFE Boats also provides training program to their customers in driving and maintaining the boats. SAFE Boats International was founded in 1997 by Scott Peterson and William Hansen. Since 1997 SAFE Boats has further expanded to three factory locations in the Port of Bremerton's Olympic View Industrial Park. Their motto is "God, Country and Fast Boats." It is contracted by the

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gove ...

(GSA) for procurement by U.S. Federal and Government agencies. The current

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

is Richard Schwarz.

Notable clients

There are over 2,000 boats currently in service by organizations in over 60 countries around the world. In 2008 the

Mexican Navy The Mexican Navy is one of the two independent armed forces of Mexico. The actual naval forces are called the ''Armada de México''. The ''Secretaría de Marina'' (''SEMAR'') (English: Naval Secretariat) includes both the ''Armada'' itself and ...

signed a US$12 million contract for six 33-foot craft, and plans to acquire 30 or more in the next two or three years. In June 2009 the

Iraqi Navy The Iraqi Naval Forces (Arabic: القوات البحرية العراقية), or the Iraqi Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed forces of Iraq. Formed in 1937, initially as the ''Iraqi Coastal Defense Force,'' its primary resp ...

acquired 26 of the 25-foot ''Defender'' class craft for US$8.4 million. They will be deployed to the Iraqi port

Umm Qasr Umm Qasr ( ar, أم قصر, also transliterated as ''Um-qasir'', ''Um-qasser, Um Qasr'') is a port city in southern Iraq. It stands on the canalised Khawr az-Zubayr, part of the Khawr Abd Allah estuary which leads to the Persian Gulf. It is sep ...

and will secure critical infrastructure; including the Khor al Amaya (Khawr al ‘Amīyah) and al Başrah Oil Terminals in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

. In 2012 Gibraltar purchased two 13 m response boats from SAFE Boats International for the

Royal Gibraltar Police The Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP) is, along with His Majesty's Customs (Gibraltar), the principal civilian law enforcement agency in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. It is the oldest police force in the Commonwealth of Nations out ...

's role in combating the rise in

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

in the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaism, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The RGP Commissioner, Mr. Yome was quoted as saying "These are very high-powered vessels and they give us a further capability out at sea, they also provide more protection for our officers." Media reports linked the purchases with a need to combat increased drug smuggling across the

Straits of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...

United States government

On February 5, 2011, SAFE Boats International won a U.S. government contract of $180,611,987.33 to provide 470 Response Boat-Small (RB-S) boats to

U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

shore units in order to perform law enforcement missions. It will also include 20 boats for Customs and Border Protection and 10 boats for the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

, for a total of 500 boats. In May 2012 the US Navy announced that SBI beat out two competitors to win a US$30 million contract to build five 78-foot MK VI Patrol Boats with an option for a sixth boat for another US$6million. Ultimately the US Navy plans to purchase 48 MK VI Patrol Boats. The MK VI Patrol Boats are based upon SBI's 780 ''Archangel''-class patrol boat and the new vessels will be the Navy's next generation of

patrol boats A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and they ...

. They will have the capability to be transported and launched from large-deck LPH LHA and LHD

amphibious assault ships An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers (and, as ...

. SAFE Boats International stated that the contract would allow them to hire 100 new employees alongside the existing 275 employees. A few months later in July 2012, SAFE Boats International was selected to build the U.S. Coast Guard's new

Cutter Cutter may refer to: Tools * Bolt cutter * Box cutter, aka Stanley knife, a form of utility knife * Cigar cutter * Cookie cutter * Glass cutter * Meat cutter * Milling cutter * Paper cutter * Side cutter * Cutter, a type of hydraulic rescue to ...

Boat-Over the Horizon-IV (CB-OTH-IV). SAFE boats will build over 100 CB-OTH-IV vessels over a seven-year period with delivery starting in 2013. The SAFE Boats CB-OTH-IV vessel was selected over three other competitors' vessels.

Earmarks

In the summer of 2010 an article was published by ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington s ...

'' claiming that former aides of

Patty Murray Patricia Lynn Murray (; born October 11, 1950) is an American politician and educator who is the senior United States senator from Washington since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Murray was in the Washington State Senate from 1988 to ...

, the senior United States senator from

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, were benefiting from earmarks added to defense appropriations bills. Murray added US$57 million in earmarks to the 2011 defense

appropriation bill An appropriation, also known as supply bill or spending bill, is a proposed law that authorizes the expenditure of government funds. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. In some democracies, approval of the legislature is ne ...

, of which $19.5 million went to clients of her former aides who now work as lobbyists. According to the article, SAFE Boats International paid lobbying firm Denny Miller Associates US$300,000 in lobbying fees and in 2008 received $6million in an earmark sponsored by U.S. Rep Norman D. Dicks, D-Bremerton. SAFE Boats CEO Scott Peterson said that the 2011 earmark would allow for 15 or more people a year to be hired.

Models

Defender class boat The Defender-class boat, also called Response Boat–Small (RB-S) and Response Boat–Homeland Security (RB-HS), is a standard boat introduced by the United States Coast Guard in 2002. The boats serve a variety of missions, including search and ...

Center Console The Center Console design is a 23-to-35-foot boat with open deck space geared for a variety of mission applications. :*SAFE 23 Center Console :*SAFE 25 Center Console :*SAFE 29 Center Console :*SAFE 35 Center Console Center Console - Offshore is a 41-foot dual-stepped hull boat with a

Go-fast boat A go-fast boat is a small, fast power boat designed with a long narrow platform and a planing hull. During the United States alcohol prohibition era, these boats were used in "rum-running", transferring illegal liquor from larger vessels wai ...

design. :*SAFE 41 Center Console - Offshore Full Cabin is a 25 to 38-foot boat with an enclosed cabin, and an outboard-driven motor. Some operators include the

,
and U.S. Customs and Border Protection :*SAFE 25 Full Cabin :*SAFE 27 Full Cabin :*SAFE 29 Full Cabin :*SAFE 33 Full Cabin :*SAFE 38 Full Cabin Full Cabin - Inboard is a 36 to 65 foot boat with an enclosed cabin with an Inboard diesel motor and available water jet propulsion. :*SAFE 36 Full Cabin - Inboard :*SAFE 44 Full Cabin - Inboard :*SAFE 65 Full Cabin - Inboard * Small unit riverine craft *Apostle *Archangel

References

External links

* {{Puget Sound shipyards Companies established in 1997 Shipbuilding companies Shipbuilding in Washington (state) Companies based in Kitsap County, Washington Bremerton, Washington