Page 20: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 1988)

OUTSTANDING SHALLOW-DRAFT

PASSENGER VESSELS

With U.S. shipyards busy build- ing and converting a number of pas- senger vessels, cruise boats and fer- ries, the editors of MR/EN have put together a feature on 10 of the most notable shallow-draft passenger vessels delivered in the past year, which include nine newbuildings and one conversion.

ANNABEL LEE

Service Marine

Service Marine Industries, Ame- lia, La., recently christened a 600- passenger dinner/cruise boat for operator Heritage Cruise Lines,

Richmond, Va.

The M/V Annabel Lee, which will cruise on the James River out of

Richmond, Va., is 108 feet long, has a beam of 34 feet, draft of 3 feet 9

Photos: (clockwise from top left): Spirit of

Chicago (Blount Marine); Island Countess (Freeport Shipbuilding); Vineyard Spray (Gladding-Hearn); and Catalina Flyer (Ni- chols Bros). inches and hull depth of 7 feet. She is powered by a pair of rebuilt

GM8V-92 diesel engines rated at 310 hp each at 1,800 rpm furnished by Johnson's Diesel Service. Electri- cal power is provided by two 99-kw

KATO generators driven by rebuilt

GM6-71 diesel engines.

The cruise boat features two en- closed decks and an open top deck.

She is fully air conditioned by four 10-ton Carrier air-cooled units, with 15-kw heating each, furnished by

Johnston Brothers Enterprises, Inc.

The Annabel Lee is carpeted and will feature live bands, dancing and

ANNABEL LEE

Equipment List

Main engines GM

Generators KATO

Generator engines GM

Reduction gears Twin Disc

A/C Carrier

Music system Aiphone

Paint International Paint

Ceiling Armstrong

Electrical panel Power Panels

Windows Southern Glass full bar service, as well as be able to seat over 400 passengers for dinner.

Tom Hensley, owner and presi- dent of Service Marine Industries,

Inc., called the Annabel Lee "a 90- day miracle," since that's how long the vessel took to construct.

CATALINA FLYER

Nichols Brothers

Nichols Brothers Boat Builders,

Whidbey Island, Wash., have deliv- ered reportedly the largest high- speed passenger catamaran built in the U.S. to Catalina Passenger Ser- vice, for service between Newport

Harbor and Catalina Island in southern California.

The 118-foot, 500-passenger fer- ry, the Catalina Flyer, is the 10th of a series of passenger catamarans built by Nichols Brothers. Like the other vessels in the series, the Cata- lina Flyer is a Catamarans Interna- tional-designed boat. Nichols

Brothers and Gladding-Hearn Ship- building, Somerset, Mass., are the only U.S. yards licensed to build the

Australian-designed boats. Nichols

Brothers believes that the Catalina

Flyer could be the largest high- speed catamaran built to date in terms of both size and passenger capacity.

The Catalina Flyer, which re- places the Catalina Holiday on the

Newport-to-Catalina route for Cat- alina Passenger Service, is powered by two specially lightened 2,000-hp

Caterpillar 3516 TA diesel engines coupled to Reintjes WVS-1023 2.538:1 reduction gears and fitted with Lips three-bladed Cunial- bronze propellers. The Catalina

Flyer's auxiliary power is supplied by two 40-kw generators driven by two John Deere engines. She has a beam of 40 feet and a draft of 8 feet.

According to Bob Black, man- ager of Catalina Passenger Service, an increasing demand for speed on the Catalina route prompted the 22 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News

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