She was built in Wheatley, Ontario and was named Vakta, which comes from Icelandic meaning to "watch, guard, or patrol".

[1] Vakta is the only Canadian Coast Guard vessel on Lake Winnipeg and stationed in Gimli, Manitoba, the largest harbour between Sarnia, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Vatka's hull is constructed of aluminum and is powered by two Caterpillar C12 diesel engines driving two fixed pitch propellers rated at 731 kilowatts (980 hp) and is also equipped with a Northern Lights M844K generator.

[1] Vatka was constructed by Hike Metal Products Ltd. of Wheatley, Ontario and launched in 2003.

[1] The vessel is home ported at the Canadian Coast Guard base in Gimli, Manitoba on Lake Winnipeg.