Eight new lifeboats for the KNRM

The contract is an investment of €9.5 million and will be financed from various inheritances and donations to the KNRM. The building of these aluminium-hulled RIB lifeboats has been awarded to two shipyards, which have been building and maintaining lifeboats for the KNRM for many years. Dok en Scheepsbouw Woudsend BV and Habbeké Shipyard signed the contract with KNRM director Jacob Tas with the first lifeboat to be delivered this year. The remaining seven lifeboats will follow in the next four years.

The eight lifeboats are given the class name “Van Wijk”, named after the testator, who left money for the construction of the first boat of this series. The new boats will be a further development of the existing 11-metre long Valentine class. This rigid-inflatable-lifeboat was designed in 1990 and remains one of very few larger RIB lifeboats and it is praised for its seaworthiness.

Few details of the new lifeboats have been released but it is thought that they will be slightly longer than the existing boats of the class at 11.4 metres and they will be fitted with a new type of Hamilton water jet. Each lifeboat will have two Hamilton waterjets, model HTX30 which features new hydrodynamics and advanced materials for redefined performance, enhanced durability and even easier installation. The HTX30 delivers major improvements at both ends of the speed range allowing for lower fuel consumption and increased acceleration both desirable features for lifeboat operations. The HTX jets feature new intake and pump designs that are claimed to deliver up to 40% more bollard pull. This improves manoeuvring response, position holding capability and vessel acceleration.

A spokesperson for the KNRM commented, “We again chose Hamilton because of proven technology on the existing KNRM boats, reliability and simplicity. In addition, we specifically choose the HTX30 jet because the performance has increased, with 7% in high-speed efficiency and 19% increase in bollard pull. Confidence which contributes to a better performance of the KNRM vessel in extreme sea and weather conditions”.

By Dag Pike