Gladding-Hearn To Construct Boat For Pilots Association

The Pilots Association for the Bay & River Delaware have contracted with Gladding- Hearn Shipbuilding Corporation of Somerset, Mass., for the construction of a 50-foot, twin-screw, pilot boat to be designed in conjunction with C. Raymond Hunt, Associates, Inc. of Boston, Mass.

The new craft, the fifth boat for the Association by Gladding-Hearn, who have built 24 other pilot boats, reflects years of experience boarding pilots in the rough waters off the Delaware Capes and the need for longer runs to service vessels of deeper draft. It combines the higher speed requirements of modern piloting with the strength of steel construction. This new design is the latest development of the original Hunt high dead-rise hull adapted to steel construction by careful attention to structural weights and their distribution. Proven worldwide for its superior offshore seakeeping, the Hunt hull ensures comfortable, dry upwind performance in rough water and steady running in a following sea. Capable of speeds about 20 knots, the boat will pace modern, high-speed merchant ships and reduce commuting time to and from station.

Specifications call for large-diameter fixed rubber tendering, an aluminum deckhouse, two GM Detroit 8V-92 engines with a total of 700 shp, under-deck heating and windshield defrosters, plus extensive electronics, including Loran C and digital depth sounder.

Delivery is scheduled for early 1979.

Maritime Reporter Magazine, page 23, Nov 1978

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Maritime Reporter

First published in 1881 Maritime Reporter is the world's largest audited circulation publication serving the global maritime industry.