'Spirit Of Norfolk' Delivered By Service Marine Industries

Service Marine Industries of Amelia, La., recently announced the christening and delivery of the passenger/dining vessel Spirit of Norfolk to Spirit Cruises, Inc., of Norfolk, Va.

The new boat is the largest of the four dinner boats that Service Marine has built for Spirit Cruises.

She is 187 feet long and 40 feet wide, can accommodate 550 guests for a reception event and can comfortably seat 480.

The new interior design concepts featured on the boat were designed by Cox, Kliewer and Company of Virginia Beach, Va. They are being adapted to the entire fleet.

The vessel can be boarded from either the first or second decks, with passengers entering a reception area and stairway that will take them to any deck on the boat without having to go through one deck to reach the next. This allows Spirit Cruises to charter private parties for each deck.

The Spirit of Norfolk is designed for 600 passengers and meets all new U.S. Coast Guard safety regulations for use on partially protected water. It has 69 tons of Carrier air conditioning and two 250-kw generators powered by Caterpillar 3406 DITA engines. Engine controls are by Kobelt, and the main engines are Caterpillar 470 hp, 3408 DITA diesels with ZF gears. The vessel also has a 250-hp Schottel bow thruster powered by a 3,116 TA Caterpillar Diesel with Twin Disc gears.

Special soundproofing developed by Service Marine and the use of Lo-Rez flexible shaft couplings and engine mounts provide for vibration- less and whisper-quiet cabins,.

Marine architects DeJong & Lebet of Jacksonville, Fla., did the marine engineering and structural drawings for the Spirit of Norfolk.

Steering controls were built and installed by Skipper Hydraulics of Harvey, La.

The Spirit of Norfolk began cruising at the start of April with daily lunch and dinner cruises, weekend moonlight and brunch cruises.

For free literature detailing the facilities and capabilities of Service Marine Industries, Circle 81 on Reader Service Card

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