One of the coast guard’s new Hero-class patrol vessels has been out of commission for more than two months due to a mechanical issue with the ship’s lifeboat system.

Problems with the lifeboat davit braking system aboard the CCGS G. Peddle S.C. were discovered during routine safety maintenance in mid-September, Wade Stagg, acting regional director of fleet in the Atlantic region, told The Chronicle Herald.

The Canadian Coast Guard is waiting for the lifeboat’s United Kingdom manufacturer to produce the parts needed for the repair, Stagg said, and the vessel should be back in action by the end of December.

“We’re at the mercy of the manufacturer,” he said.

The Dartmouth-based Peddle is a 13-metre midshore patrol vessel used for fishery conservation and protection. It was constructed as part of a contract awarded to Irving Shipbuilding in 2009 that saw the delivery of nine vessels between 2012 and 2014 with the function of supporting Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s compliance and enforcement program on Canada’s coastline. It is one of two Hero-class vessels on the East Coast. The other, CCGS Corporal McLaren M.M.V., is functioning normally.

Stagg said these sorts of growing pains with new boats are not uncommon, and that the layup has not resulted in any significant program impact.

“When you get new crews on board the vessels, especially with brand new vessels, there’s usually some items that are identified within the first year or so,” he said.

“As with any vessel, there’s constant maintenance, there are a lot of moving parts and they operate in some harsh conditions.”

Stagg said the coast guard is taking advantage of the downtime to get ahead of some routine refit items that were scheduled for 2016. The work on the Peddle is being completed in Halifax.