Page 50: of Marine News Magazine (March 2016)

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BOAT OF THE MONTH

USACE M/V Dan Reeves

Credit: Richard Dollison he M/V Dan Reeves was commissioned in January Z-Drive to a customer’s speci? cations while maintaining the of 2016 for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (US- ability to deliver a standardized product that is competitively

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ACE) Little Rock District. Built by Horizon Ship- priced and stocked with spare parts to support the vessel. building, Inc., Bayou La Batre, Ala., and overseen by the “The New Z-Drives aboard the M/V Dan Reeves are

USACE Marine Design Center, the vessel is also designed to Outstanding Performers. Fred Astaire does not have any comply with proposed USCG Subchapter M Requirements. moves that we don’t have.” said M/V Dan Reeves Captain

Power and propulsion is provided by two Cat C32 WOSR Michael Bagley. “She has great maneuverability, nimble, “C” Rated main engines, giving 1,300 HP Each at 1,800 to responsive, powerful and light on her feet when moving 2,100 rpm. But, it is the two Thrustmaster Z-Drives (mod- as many as 12 loaded barges.” Unique to this Z-Drive el TH1500MZ with a 5.74:1 Reduction Gear Ratio) that installation is a customized ? aring of the Z-Drive inner make this vessel special. That’s because Thrustmaster builds well mount to perfectly match the curvature of the hull a complete line of Z-Drive azimuthing thrusters from 500 bottom. The depth of the inner well, which constitutes

HP to 4,000 HP for the inland towboat industry, speci? cally the distance between the horizontal input shaft and the designed to endure the demanding conditions when operat- propeller shaft, was also specially designed to ? t the hull ing in brown water. Beyond this, each Thrustmaster package depth per speci? cations. The round shape of the thruster is speci? cally customized for the individual hull being ? tted. mount vs. a typical squared mount was utilized to further

Using Z-Drives on towboats results in substantially im- increase the integrity of the vessel and propulsion system. proved fuel ef? ciency, shorter trip times, decreased main- The stainless steel propeller and the nozzles were speci? - tenance downtime and higher customer satisfaction when cally developed by the USACOE hydrodynamic special- compared to traditional shaft and rudder installations. At ists and completely CNC machined to the exact geometry the same time, Thrustmaster believes that designing hull requirements of the designers. The complete driveline was forms to optimize ? ow into the Z-Drives further increases built to Ice Class speci? cations. Despite these customiza- performance and provide a competitive advantage to the op- tions, all other components of the thruster are standard to erator. This begins with a manufacturer who carefully coor- Thrustmaster’s Z-Drive product line allowing the vessel to dinates with the vessel owner and naval architect during the bene? t from standard spare parts for support. According to design phase of a project to make sure every potential perfor- Thrustmaster, the performance gains provided by Z-drives mance enhancement is reached. Thrustmaster has struck a versus traditionally powered towboats provides a huge win perfect balance between providing the ability to customize a for operators, equating to at least one more trip per year.

Top images (left and right): Thrustmaster

The M/V Dan Reeves at a glance …

Builder: Horizon Shipbuilding Length Overall: 95’ Class: (ABS) A-1 Towing Vessel, USCG Sub M

Year Delivered: January 2016 Breadth: 43’ Main Engines: (2) Cat C32 WOSR “C” Rated

Generators: 2X John Deere/150 kW, 480V Hull Depth: 10’-0” Horsepower: 1300 HP Each

Electronics: Furuno Nav. Package Draft (full load): 8’-6” Z-Drives: (2) Thrustmaster TM1500MZ

Winches: (4) Patterson WWP 65E-7.5 14 Air Draft: 47’-10” Propellers: Hung Shen - 4 Blade in Nozzles

Capstan: Schoellhorn- Albrecht Fuel 22,800 Gallons Deck Crane: RAPP HYDRA PRO HP-18/2F

March 2016

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