Despite the general downturn in the US economy, north west boat builders had an outstanding year in 2010, launching many craft that represent advances in hull design and low-emission power systems, covering types as varied as pilot boats, ATB tugs, and catamaran ferries. These include several "firsts": catamaran ferries and pilot boats with ultra-clean Tier 4 diesels, 12,000kW ATB tugs, and a 25-metre low-wake, hydrofoil-supported catamaran.
That these vessels, plus the US Coast Guard's new 14-metre response boats, Z-drive tugs, oil skimmers, and more typical craft, emerged from a handful of small and medium-size yards located on Puget Sound in Washington state, is nothing short of remarkable. It is the result of the evolution of advanced technical skills and craftsmanship over the last 20 years, dating from the end of a decade-long boom in fishing boats, which caused a major shakeout.
Those yards that survived found that the market in the 1990s reflected the political and economic trends: local and federal authorities needed new patrol, rescue and research boats; and the huge increase in trade with Asia meant more powerful tugs were needed to dock the bigger container ships. To compete with the gulf coast, builders adopted digital technologies like CAD and CNC that were developed by high-tech companies in the region, and were able to reduce costs and increase efficiency. By the mid-90s, a network of computer-design specialists was providing computer fairing, lofting, and cutting services to the NW marine industry.
Green tech in the Evergreen State
The highest profile craft to emerge from the northwest since the Boeing hydrofoils of the 1970s has been a series of ultra-low-emission designs. The first was a 22-metre hybrid 3,728kW diesel-electric tug built by Foss at its Rainier, Oregon yard on the lower Columbia River – one of 12 Dolphin-class tugs built there. The hybrid has been working successfully at the Port of Long Beach, California since January 2009.
Now, a second grant from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) – the air authority for the Los Angeles Basin, is allowing the Rainier yard to retrofit a standard 22-metre Dolphin tug for service in San Pedro Bay. The same Foss/Aspin Kemp & Associates hybrid technology will be used, with some improvements to the power-sharing programme between the mains, gensets and batteries. Besides reducing particulates and limiting exhaust emissions, Foss says the re-power will save more than 380,000 litres of diesel fuel annually, says.
The desire to eliminate unsightly exhaust fumes around the USS 'Arizona' memorial in Pearl Harbor led to the installation of clean power plants in six new fibreglass passenger ferries by Modutech Marine of Tacoma, Washington. These open 24-metre boats came from the same mould as the old boats, and carry 149 passengers and three crew, but they are equipped with a pair of Tier II Cummins QSB5.9-230 HDs burning B100 biodiesel, and Clean Diesel Technologies' Platinum Plus system that dispenses a fuel-borne catalyst.
The building of four 36-metre, high-speed, low-wake, low-emission ferries for the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) in San Francisco showcased not only the application of the latest marine emission-control technology (equal to Tier 4), but also the ability of Washington yards to cooperate on complex projects. Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Whidbey Island built the upper decks and installed the SCR systems in the exhaust stacks. The modules were barged to Seattle and attached to the aluminium bridge deck, and the hulls were built at Kvichak Marine Industries, which also fitted out the engine rooms with MTU 16V 2000 diesels. The first two cats were coast guard-certified to carry 149 passengers, the last two for 199. Design was by Incat Crowther of Australia.
Kvichak is a Seattle partnership that began building 10-metre Bristol Bay gillnetters in 1981, picked up the license to build Marco's filter-belt oil skimmers, and developed the ability to take on more complex projects in the 1990s, including catamaran ferries, a 30.5-metre hovercraft, and a modern all-weather high-speed pilot boat for the Columbia Bar Pilots.
Other pilots' associations tested this high-speed Camarc design propelled by MTU 2000s and Hamilton waterjets, and have ordered five more pilot boats from Kvichak from 15 to 23 metres long. This record, and the success of the WETA ferries, made the yard the top choice for the Dutch Pilots Association to build three pilot boats that required emission systems in excess of Tier 4 to meet air quality standards at the Port of Rotterdam.
The Swiss Nauticlean SCR/DPF system from Hug Engineering was supplied and serviced through Soottech in the Netherlands. To ensure the system exceeded the specs, Kvichak ran one of the 970kW Caterpillar C32 Acert engines and the emission system onshore under full load to analyse the exhaust. The new pilot boats were shipped to Europe by a submersible carrier and placed into service in October 2010.
US Coast Guard's 14-metre responders built in Washington
The USCG's new Response Boat-Medium (RBM) will replace the aging fleet of 12.5-metre utility boats and assorted non-standard boats. In 2002, Marinette Marine and Kvichak Marine formed a team to compete for the contract with a design by UK-based Camarc. They won the competition in 2006, delivered five boats in 2008, and are now splitting constructing between Washington and Wisconsin, at an overall rate of one vessel per month to fill the order that has grown to 100 boats and could reach 250.
The RBM is powered by two MTU Series 60 engines, each producing a maximum of 615kW for a top speed of 30 knots. Kvichak is also the sole supplier of 12-metre MPF/UB-40 utility boats for the US Navy, and recently delivered another seven of this class, bringing its total to 33. The MPF is fitted with twin Cummins QSM11 engines rated for 490kW and Hamilton 364 waterjets.
Versatility is key
During 2009-10, Kvichak also completed a wide variety of other craft, including a 27-metre debris collection catamaran, a fourth 16.5-metre hydrofoil-supported HYSUCRAFT cat to join their charter fleet, and had a 20-metre twin-hulled ferry under construction for Long Beach Transit in California powered by twin 460kW Cummins QSM 11s with a service speed of 25 knots.
Nichols Brothers was a pioneer in aluminium catamaran building on the west coast, beginning in 1983 with an Alaskan tour boat designed by the Australian Incat group. Nichols has delivered 45 catamarans, including many ferries for the Bay Area and Catalina Island, and is often called on to re-power their older boats. Recently, four catamaran ferries from San Francisco have been refurbished by Nichols, their old Detroit DDECs replaced with a total of 16 Tier 2 MTU 4000s. Nichols Brothers also completed a series of five 30.5-metre Jensen-designed Valor-class tugs – four for one owner. They are fitted with two 2,555kW Caterpillar 3516Cs and Rolls-Royce Z-drives.
Dakota Creek Industries in Anacortes, Washington, gained a foothold in the oil patch in 2008, when Otto Candies was unable to find a gulf coast yard able to start building three sophisticated IMR (inspection, maintenance and repair) boats. Candies came to the northwest and contracted with Dakota Creek, who quickly began work in Anacortes on the modules for the 84-metre 'Grant Candies', launched in 2009, and has now delivered the 89-metre 'Ross Candies' and 'Cade Candies'. All three vessels employ four Caterpillar 3500 series diesel-electric power plants to run a pair of Schottel 2,250kW combi-drive steerable pods with twin propellers and two 1,000kW bow thrusters, plus all the hotel services for a crew of up to 86, including a gymnasium and a cinema.
Dakota Creek's latest order is another new and challenging one: three 45-metre ATB tugs for Crowley Maritime with twin 6,000kW Wärtsilä C32 dual-fuel engines. They will be reportedly the most powerful ATBs ever built. The hull design by Naviform of Vancouver, Canada is also notable: the bow shape is designed to maintain a clean water flow in the barge's notch, while the hull bottom transitions into two streamlined pods that house the two fully-independent engine rooms. The yard has already completed the first vessel, the 'Legacy'.
Smaller northwest yards have the flexibility to meet the need for smaller special-purpose tugs. Last summer Fred Wahl's mid-Oregon coast yard launched the 28-metre triple-screw 'Dana Cruz' for Foss Maritime's Alaskan arctic service, and is now finishing a sister ship. Diversified Marine in Portland built a pair of shallow draught 23-metre tugs for Crowley in 2009, and has recently started a pair of 24-metre Z-drive tugs for Shaver. The design is by Capillano Marine Design of Vancouver, and power is twin MTU 16V4000 engines, each rated at 2,000kW. At its Mount Vernon plant, Rozema built two 20-metre steel and aluminium harbour tugs that were recently shipped to the Kuwait Navy, and this year is working on four 17-metre seagoing oil skimmers for the Clean Sea Coalition of Santa Barbara.
Low-wake hydrofoil catamaran
This 22-metre high-speed catamaran is unique in being the first locally-built high-tech passenger vessel intended for local use – a passenger-only ferry across the sound between Bremerton and Seattle. The builder is All American Marine of Bellingham, Washington, the exclusive US builder of Teknicraft Designs of Auckland, New Zealand with a record of 23 catamarans over 15 metres long delivered in the last 12 years.
The design is an experimental ultra-low-wake hydrofoil ferry with an aluminium hull and a composite superstructure to save weight. It has a Naiad ride-control system to minimise wake—a crucial issue, because a previous catamaran service was halted by wake-induced erosion on the shoreline in Rich Passage, just east of Bremerton. The boat is being funded under a grant from the Federal Transportation Administration, to investigate the feasibility of using a low-wake design in waterways vulnerable to wake damage. Propulsion comes from four Caterpillar C18 ACERT diesels rated at 650kW at 1,200RPM driving Hamilton waterjets, giving a speed of 34 to 37 knots. All American has now begun work on its biggest project to date – a 40-metre cat for survey work in the gulf.
SAFE Boats going international
Starting in 2002, Port Orchard, Washington-based SAFE Boats International (SBI) delivered over 450 of their 7.6-metre out-board-powered Response Boat-Small to the US Coast Guard. The company has since moved into larger craft, and developed the 15-metre Riverine Command Boat (RCB) for the US Marine Corps. This is a versatile/multi-purpose craft based on a design by FMV of Sweden and built by Dockstavarvet.
Power comes from a pair of 630kW Scania DI16 diesels coupled to Rolls-Royce FF410 waterjets, giving a speed in excess of 40 knots. After extensive testing, the US Marines ordered six of the class, which SAFE delivered in 2010. The RCB can be run on a 50/50 fuel blend of algae-based bio-diesel and NATO F-76 fuel, also known as HR-D.
SBI has also built eight-metre fast responders for the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), and has been sea-testing one of the world's fastest fireboats in its class, the 19.5-metre 'Bravest', also for the FDNY. Powered by triple 750kW Caterpillar C-18 diesel engines turning Hamilton 403 waterjets, this is the largest, most advanced vessel that the company has built, with a top speed of 45 knots. The boat is named in memory of the firefighters killed during 9/11.
Modernising the Washington State Ferries fleet
The most significant current contract in the Pacific Northwest is for three new 64-car class ferries for Washington State Ferries (WSF) designed by the Elliot Bay Design Group. The prime builder is Todd Pacific Shipyards of Seattle, which is responsible for the hull and engine room, while Nichols Brothers supplies the superstructure. Power is two EMD 710 12-710 diesels, each rated at 2,250kW at 900RPM, connected via mechanical drive systems for double-ended operation.
The ferry system operates under a legislative mandate requiring all ferries must be built in-state, and was looking for a local bid of around US$50 million per boat. However, Todd was the only bidder, with an original estimate of $65.5 million. The final cost of the Chetzemoka was almost $80 million, because of changes to the plans, some to comply with new fire and ADA requirements.
The fixed cost for the three-ferry contract has been set at $213 million. Todd is also responsible for detailed planning for WSF's long-delayed 144-car ferries.
Ketchikan Shipyard's multi-function SWATH
The 'Susitna' is a unique 60-metre SWATH (Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull) launched by Alaska Ship and Drydock in Ketchikan. It is an ingenious, multi-function vessel packed with complex mechanical systems to give two distinct modes of operation: SWATH mode for stability in rough seas, and shallow-draught, catamaran/landing-craft mode.
In addition, it is also the world's first ice-breaking twin-hulled vessel. Ferries in Alaska are typically financed by state and federal transportation funds, but this required a military sponsor to pay the $70 million cost. The Office of Naval Research's Sea Warfare and Weapons Department sees the E-Craft (E for expedition) as a technology demonstrator to support the navy's sea basing and expeditionary warfare concepts.
Cruising speed is 17 knots with an official capacity of 100 passengers and a maximum load of 35 tonnes on the movable centre deck. The navy will be testing the vessel's shallow-draught ability to hydraulically lower the barge-like cargo deck and ramp 6.4 metres, forcing the twin hulls to rise and reduce draught from 3.7 metres to 1.5 metres. The military vehicles on board will then be driven onshore in various locations to assess its operational value.
The concept originated from an ex-navy officer working at Lockheed Martin. Detail design was by Guido Perla and Associates of Seattle. Power comes from four MTU 12V 4000 M90 diesel engines, each producing 2,040kW. Two engines are housed in each hull, driving Wärtsilä WLD 810 waterjets. Each hull is also fitted with a Traktor waterjet amidships for manoeuvring in shallow water. Despite its strong military roots, the Susitna is owned by the Alaskan borough of Matanuska-Susitna, which plans to use the vessel as a civilian ferry cross a three-mile stretch of the Cook Inlet north of Anchorage in SWATH mode. However, the borough is still deciding how and where to build landing docks.
Alaska Ship and Drydock is also building a standard 35-metre car ferry with a $7 million price tag, designed by Glosten Associates of Seattle for the short crossing between Ketchikan and the city's airport on Gravina Island. This is the ferry that the controversial $400 million "bridge to nowhere" would have replaced.
The Northwest's Z-drive connection
The worldwide dominance of the Canadian naval architect Robert Allan in the Z-tug field began in the late 1980s, when he drew his first compact Z-drive tug for ship assist for CH Cates Towing. This class quickly proved its superior visibility, handling and power in the busy Vancouver Harbour.
The first Allan Z-drive on the US west coast was built in 1992 by JM Martinac Shipbuilding of Tacoma for Shaver Transportation on the Columbia River. Other operators recognised the potential of these designs, and Washington manufacturers began engineering new products like winches, towropes and fenders to match the power of these new boats. This early adoption continues to pay dividends for northwest yards. Martinac hit its stride in 2007 and has been busy since then with orders for eight Allen tugs, the first four the Ramparts 3000 design—three with twin MTU V-16 4000s, the fourth for Seaspan in Canada with 4,500kW at 900RPM from a pair of V-12 710 EMDs. The streak continued in 2009 with an order from the US Navy for four of Robert Allan's 27-metre Z-Tech 4500 designs driven by twin Caterpillar 3512s that give them 2,700kW—enough power to move lightly built navy ships.
Seattle-based naval architects Jensen Maritime Consultants of Seattle (now a Crowley company), has also drawn numerous powerful Z-drive designs built all over the US. The most consistent tug builder in the northwest is actually an operator – Western Towboat in Seattle – which has built all its own boats since 1984. This year, it will launch its sixteenth Jensen design at its base on the Ship Canal. Although much of its work is hauling barges to Alaska, Western decided 20 years ago to fit Ulstein Z-drives on its new 37-metre long-haul tugs because the added manoeuvrability would enable them to dock the barges unaided at small harbours. It has now built nine Z-drive boats all equipped with Caterpillar engines.
Looking ahead
There has only been one notable casualty in 2010: Aluminum Chambered Boats of Bellingham, Washington. The economy was not the only factor here however, since it had recently secured a $38 million contract for eighty 10-metre trailerable port security boats for the US Coast Guard. ACB had been in business for 12 years, relied heavily on military orders, and had a workforce of 60 last summer. The more established commercial yards have prospered by carefully avoiding this type of specialisation.
With this 20-year record of achievement in a wide variety of high-performance vessels, the northwest will certainly continue to be favoured for advanced passenger, military and low-emission vessels, but the uncertainty that surrounds the budgets for many potential government customers demands that these shipyards look further afield for future work. The yards have begun to employ their marketing efforts for 2011, and their versatility is going to be tested again, because the new surprising target is fishing vessel owners.
Recent years had been very good for some fishermen, and all those fishing vessels built in the 1980s are showing their age. Some of the owners have already chosen the economical upgrade of sponsoning (widening) and lengthening existing boats. This labour-intensive method retains the existing mechanical systems, but vastly increases hull capacity.
At the shows, in magazine ads, and in person, every yard is presenting their concepts, from 10-metre gillnetters to 52-metre longliners. Jonathon Parrot of Jensen Design explained that a new era of regulation for fishing vessels would begin in July 2012, when all craft over 15 metres long would have to be built to a classification society's rules. There was already a definite awareness of this deadline, he said, and an interest in new construction before it took effect.
Peter J. Marsh
