The first of three hovercrafts of the AP1-88/400 design ordered by the Canadian Coast Guard, Mamilossa was the only one constructed in the United Kingdom by Hoverworks Ltd. with the remaining units, CCGS Sipu Muin and CCGS Siyay, built under license by Hike Metal Products of Wheatley, Ontario, Canada.

The primary missions of Mamilossa are icebreaking and search and rescue along coastlines in the Quebec Region.

The vessel can perform secondary tasks, such as navigational aid work and use as a buoy tender.

[1] Mamilossa, which means "it walks from the shore onto the water fair winds" in the Abenaki language, entered service in 2009 with the Canadian Coast Guard[2] and provides icebreaking, search and rescue, and navigational aid maintenance.

[2] As part of the Canadian Coast Guard's fleet renewal plan, the acquisition of four new ACVs was announced to replace Mamilossa and the other hovercraft.