Jetpower drives fast aluminium crewboat
Arctic Solution is a shallow water ro-ro passenger and vehicle ferry.
Aluminium boat builder Armstrong Marine of Washington state in the USA has recently delivered Arctic Solution, a landing craft to transport equipment and personnel to and from oil producing regions in Alaska.
Arctic Solution was built for Arctic Marine Solutions in Seward, Alaska, to a landing craft design developed by Pat Eberhard, engineer and owner of CoastWise Corporation. This new design is co-owned by Arctic Marine Solutions and CoastWise Engineering.
When laden the 17.4m LOA, 38.6 ton vessel has an impressive sprint speed of 30 knots (lightship 35 knots). lt is a shallow water ro-ro passenger and vehicle ferry, and features a planing hull form. It is certified to carry two crew and 49 passengers and also to carry hazardous materials
Boatbuilder Armstrong Marine was chosen for its expertise in fabrication and aluminium work. Because of the vessel’s size, the builder constructed the hull and wheelhouse in two sections. Three removable pods were also built for the landing craft to each seat 12 workers, and can be fixed as required to the vessel’s deck for ferrying personnel to drilling sites. The bow ramp designed by Pat Eberhard can load heavy vehicles from unimproved beaches. It has the ability to sustain a 65,000 pound load for extra durability in the harsh environment of the North Slope.
Lightship Arctic Solution has a payload of 28.7 tons. It is powered by triple 485 kW Scania DI12 66M diesel engines coupled to triple UltraJet 410 waterjet propulsion systems, via ZF325-1 transmissions. Waterjets are now the preferred form of propulsion for many fast craft applications, offering high speed efficiency, optimal controllability and fast response times as well as shallow draft.
The exceptional manoeuvrability is achieved with an UltraJet JetMAster-Pro electrohydraulic control system fitted for steering and independent operation of the three reversing deflectors.
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