The contract has been on the cards for years and was on hold while Taranaki volunteers raised money for the boat. Todd Energy has donated $227,000, which provided it with naming rights for the vessel.
AMF Boats has built eight previous Coastguard vessels, to five different designs. The Taranaki vessel will be similar to a boat the company built in Tauranga in 2009.
The Collings are hopeful this contract is just the start of more business to come. A boat for Coastguard Manawatu is also in the pipeline and a set of five rescue boats for a foreign country has had departmental approval and is now awaiting financial approval..
"We get a huge amount of inquiries from all around the world for this rescue range," Mr Collings said.
The range was designed by David de Villiers with input gained from Mr Collings' involvement in rescue work. The Taranaki boat will have a top speed of 38 knots and be capable of handling extremely heavy seas.
"We have a vessel which will be assigned design-category A according to ISO 12217-1, which states the vessel will be capable of being safely operated in waves up to seven metres in height and in winds up to Beaufort Force 10 (48-55 knots). This roughly equates to a sea state greater than six on the Douglas Sea State Scale," Mr Collings said.
AMF Boats also builds pleasure craft, trailer boats and commercial vessels and exports to Australia. Inquiries for these products are improving too.
"We're looking at trying to expand that as the economy picks up," Mr Collings said.
If all goes as planned, the Collings will need bigger premises and more staff - perhaps up to its previous top level of 15 to 20.
"We expect to be able to do that again, once we get back to pre-recession work flow."
