Repowered dive boat a breath of fresh air

Swanage Diver is now powered by a pair of the recently launched Perkins Marine Power M300C engines and works between five and seven days a week during the four and a half month diving season, clocking up between 500 and 1,000 hours a year under power.

Swanage Diver operates with a two man crew and can take up to 12 divers and their equipment to local wreck and drift sites. Itis a converted prototype of the Madina Class semi-rigid lifeboat, a design that was never put into production by the RNLI, and has been owned by Divers Down for the past 13 years. Since being re-powered with the new engines, the 12m long, 4.4m beam, deep-V hulled boat now boasts a reliable cruising speed of 18 knots and a top speed of 25 knots. Of equal importance to the owners however is the vast improvement in smoke emissions when compared with Swanage Diver’s previous engines.

‘Diving enthusiasts have changed out of all recognition over the years, said Divers Down owner, Pete Williams. ‘Long gone are the days when their expectations of charter boats were not particularly demanding. Today we are just as likely to have divers arriving in Porsches and BMWs and they expect to spend their time in the water, so getting to the dive sites quickly is vitally important. They also will not put up with being engulfed in clouds of choking smoke and exhaust fumes.’

The new 300hp (223kW) engines chosen for Swanage Diver deliver their maximum power at a comfortable and extremely low-stressed 2,400rpm, which is a major factor in the M300C’s anticipated extended and trouble free life expectancy and low cost-of-ownership. The in line, six cylinder, 6.6 litre wastegated turbocharged, charge air cooled engines are based on the Perkins 1100 Series engine, and in Swanage Diver are linked to Twin Disc gearboxes. It is the first Perkins Marine Power six cylinder marine engine to offer 500 hour service interval and a 500 hour or once a season oil change.