Page 52: of Marine News Magazine (March 2020)

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VESSELS

Partners Developing Electric Launch for Canaveral Pilots

Credit: Glosten

Glosten said it is working with fellow naval architecture and offshore supply vessels (OSV), certain design challenges ? rm Ray Hunt Design and the Canaveral Pilots Associa- have slowed the technology’s inroads in the pilot boat realm.

tion on a pilot/demonstration project for the design, con- In 2018 Canada’s Robert Allan Ltd. introduced an all- struction and operation of an electric pilot boat. electric pilot boat design for short run applications of 5

Marking a ? rst for a pilot boat in the U.S., the vessel nautical miles or less. And in 2019 the Port Authority of will feature a battery-electric propulsion system with an London took delivery of the world’s ? rst hybrid pilot boat emergency ‘get home’ diesel engine. (developed by French naval architects Pantocarene and

During the feasibility-level engineering, the team estab- adapted by U.K. builder Goodchild Marine), but there are lished that a Ray Hunt hull form out? tted with a Glosten- currently no pilot boats operating in the U.S. with hybrid designed battery propulsion system will achieve the speed or fully electric propulsion systems.

and operating range required to support normal pilotage “The technology isn’t necessarily new. The challenge is operations in Port Canaveral. Fla. Once in service, the managing total weight in relation to the hull form and the electric launch will serve as one of two primary boats for required operating pro? le,” said Winn Willard, President supporting pilotage operations in the port. of Ray Hunt. “Because we are seeing a growing interest in

Morgan Fanberg, President of Glosten, said, “Ray Hunt such vessels, it made sense to partner with Glosten to work brings a wealth of knowledge on planing hulls and pilot through those technical challenges.” vessels, speci? cally. Combining that with our own experi- With feasibility-level engineering now complete, the ence in electric propulsion systems, we hope to provide an Glosten-led team will now work to develop a draft pro- excellent working solution for Canaveral Pilots.” gram for the pilot/demonstration project to be used for

Glosten said speci? c design details remain con? dential Federal and/or State grant funding solicitations. At the at this stage, but the minimum performance criteria estab- current stage, a potential builder has not been not named.

lished by Port Canaveral included a cruising speed of 18 Brendan McMillin, Co-chairman of Canaveral Pilots, knots and an operating range (on battery propulsion only) said “[The project] presents an opportunity not only to of 24 nautical miles. reduce some of our maintenance and operating costs, but

While hybrid and all-electric propulsion solutions have been to demonstrate that electric propulsion can be adopted by in use for years for a number of vessel types such as ferries, tugs marine pilot associations on a broader scale.”

March 2020

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