Page 51: of Marine News Magazine (October 2020)

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VESSELS

USCG to Test Autonomous Patrol Boat

Following the Hawaii demonstrations, the 29-foot monohull pilothouse vessel will be returned to the RDC’s New Lon- don, Conn. facility, where it will be used in additional testing to investigate application to various Coast Guard missions.

“As the premier USCG facility performing research, de- velopment, test and evaluation in support of the service’s major missions, the RDC team is eager to observe Sea Ma-

Metal Shark chines’ system in action,” said USCG’s Derek Meier, assis-

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Research and Develop- tant demonstration director. “The exercises will ultimately ment Center (RDC) will run an autonomous patrol boat help us determine how, when, and if this innovative tech- through its paces to gauge whether the innovative technol- nology can be used to support personnel who are executing ogy installed on board can be used to support personnel in a variety of Coast Guard activities.” executing Coast Guard missions. “Since the launch of our Sharktech Autonomous Vessels

The vessel to be tested is a Metal Shark welded-aluminum division in 2018 we have been working to position Metal 29 De? ant craft, the latest product of the Louisiana-based Shark for the autonomy revolution,” said Metal Shark shipbuilder’s “Sharktech Autonomous Vessels” division to CEO Chris Allard. “We are committed to the advance- be equipped with the SM300 autonomous-command and ment of autonomous technology, through our relation- remote-helm technology from Boston-based autonomous ships with leading autonomy suppliers as well as through technology developer Sea Machines. The new vessel offers our own R&D, and we are engaged with multiple custom- a full range of advanced capabilities including transit au- ers, from the USCG, the Department of Defense, and tonomy, collaborative autonomy, active ride control and commercial operators.” collision avoidance, and remote control vessel monitoring. Sea Machines’ Phil Bourque, sales director, said, “[Sea

During exercises scheduled for October off the coast of Ha- Machines] systems are being rapidly adopted by govern- waii, the RDC team will test and evaluate the Sharktech ves- ment and commercial operators alike, offering increases in sel’s autonomous capabilities for their potential in supporting on-water productivity and predictability, while reducing

USCG surveillance, interdiction, patrol and other missions. operational risk.”

Vigor Builds Patrol Boats for Jordanian Navy

Fincantieri Marinette Marine and Vigor (Team RB-M) in August delivered two additional Response Boat-Mediums (RB-Ms) to the U.S. Coast Guard. These boats are part of an approved foreign military sale to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan through the Department of Homeland Security.

Fincantieri Marinette Marine was the prime contractor and program manager for the project, and Vigor built the vessels at its Seattle facility.

The Royal Jordanian Naval Force (RJNF) plans to oper- ate the new boats from its base in Aqaba, Jordan, for securi- ty missions, search and rescue, and drug interdiction along with visit, board, search and seizure operations (VBSS). The 13.6-meter vessels are capable of a top speed of more than

Vigor 42 knots and have a mission duration of up to 24 hours.

Integrated Control Systems, and port and starboard rescue

Key features on the vessels include FLIR night vision wells for water retrievals.

technology, push knees for added control with VBSS op-

Team RB-M previously delivered 174 similar boats to erations, and a composite aft deck hardtop for crew com- the U.S. Coast Guard and is completing six additional fort. The vessels utilize shock mitigating seats, Vector-Stick boats to the Kingdom of Bahrain.

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