Page 53: of Marine News Magazine (July 2012)

The new class of 144-car Washington state ferries currently under construction will be named after a beloved Washington landmark, the Olympics. The winning name, Olympic, was selected by Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond after a contest among Washington State Department of Transportation employees resulted in more than 130 submissions. All Washington state ferries are categorized into different vessel classiÞ cations, or vessel classes. For example, the recently-constructed 64-car ferries Ð Chetzemoka, Salish and Kennewick Ð are part of the Kwa-di Tabil class. The Washington State Transportation Commission chooses individual vessel names. As with the Kwa-di Tabil-class vessels, the commission will have a public submission process to name the Olympic-class vessels. The WSDOT Ferries Division is funded to build two new 144- car ferries. The Þ rst ferry is under construction at Vigor Shipyard and scheduled to begin service in early 2014. Construction on the second ferry will begin in December. Charleston Harbor salvage support company Southeast Ocean Response Services put out the call for a fast-response Þ reboat that could carry divers, cargo and passengers, go faster than 30 knots, measure less than 65 t. long and have an integrated foam Þ reÞ ghting system. Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, naval architects from C. Raymond Hunt Associates and Volvo Penta were able to answer that call by joining forces to create a custom response boat unlike any other. The plans were already on the drawing board when the design team was introduced to Volvo PentaÕs D13-1050 power and IPS 3 drives. In addition to being more fuel efÞ cient, maneuverable and easier to operate, the IPS pods have another advantage over traditional propellers or jet drives. The boat runs like it is on rails. A pod acts like a Þ n that improves tracking and stability at high speed. When entering or exiting a turn, there is no vibration or slide. Volvo Penta technicians also assisted with applications engineering and other installation details at the yard. Even after the boat is completed, Volvo PentaÕs network of service centers will support the power system for years to come. It is the Þ rst of its kind in the U.S. ?Olympic? Selectedas Name of New 144-car FerriesFast-Response Boat First in U.S. Powered by Volvo Penta IPS MN 53www.marinelink.com MNJuly2012 Layout 50-58.indd 53MNJuly2012 Layout 50-58.indd 537/10/2012 12:56:23 PM7/10/2012 12:56:23 PM