Page 34: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (January 1995)

Passenger Vessel Review

Innovative passenger vessel designs and deliveries — both in the U.S. and internationally — were numerous in 1994. While there are many different types and sizes of passenger vessels profiled in the ensuing pages, there is a predominant characteristic among many of the boats detailed — speed.

If the age of the fast ferry has not officially arrived, it most certainly is close.

Of the vessels presented in this annual forum, more than half are designed to move passengers (and in some cases cars and cargo) rapidly from the proverbial "point A to point B." Many factors play a role in this need for speed — emerging technological capability, to name a few. The flash of these fast carriers, however, should not detract attention from the many other worthy types of passenger craft delivered during the year. Riverboat casino vessels have changed the river scape in many U.S. cities, and prospects are good for that niche market's continued growth (see related story page 42 of this issue). Designed to carry passengers safely while packing the design punch of a Las Vegas casino, these boats — whether of the paddlewheel or modern yacht design — are true technological accom- plishments also, and stand as a tribute to the companies which design (both the structure & interiors), build and supply them.

Yard.... Sovereign Submarines

Type.... Passenger submarine

Name .. Voyager II

The second of the 48-passenger submarines that Sovereign Subma- rines built for SeaPath, Inc. was launched in late November at

Sovereign's yards on the Duwamish

Waterway in Seattle.

The first of the 72.6-ft. (22-m), free swimming submarines, which was launched in March of 1994, went into service off Waikiki Beach.

Submarines Hawaii, Inc. takes tourists on 80 to 150-ft. dives to view underwater gardens at Kewalo Reef, a structure formed by lava flows and coral banks. The submarines are based at Kewalo basin, near

Waikiki. A crew of three operates the sub, using electronic controls and monitors installed by Indus- trial Integrators, Inc., and an elec- trohydraulic drive powered by a bank of batteries. Ships service power is provided by a pair of248-V,

Hoppepke battery packs. Two Reli- ance/Siemens 45-kW, 95-hp electric motors drive hydraulic pumps. This system, in turn, powers a five-blade, five-in. propeller.

The submarine will undergo ser- vice and maintenance each night while the batteries are recharged, using a service module equipped by

Sovereign and shipped with each submarine. The SeaPath/Sovereign submarines displace 99 tons. The 64 x 8.4-ft. (19.5 m x 2.5 m) pressure hull features a one-in. thick skin that will allow the submarine to dive to 328 ft. (100 m), although certified operating depth is 150 ft. (45.7 m). The submarine was de- signed and built in accordance with the American Bureau of Shipping: "Rules for Building and Classing

Underwater Systems and Vehicles."

The pressure vessel was built by

Union Tank Works of Seattle to standards of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Sover- eign Submarine and Industrial In- tegrators are part of a complex of companies that builds yachts, workboats, and prototype projects.

Yard.... Nichols Brothers

Type.... Passenger ferry

Name .. Bay Breeze

Nichols Brothers Inc. delivered the $3.2-million Bay Breeze to the

Alameda/Oakland Ferry service in late May. The 250-passenger fast catamaran's propulsion package in- cludes equipment from KaMeWa and Detroit Diesel, enabling the boat to achieve 25-knot speeds, re- portedly making it the fastest ves- sel of its type on the San Francisco

Bay. The boat measures 97 ft. (29.5 m) long with a 29-ft. (9-m) beam and a 4-ft. (1.2-m) draft. It is based on a design from International Catama- rans Pty. Ltd. The vessel, which is jointly owned by the City of Alameda and the Port of Oakland, was paid for with funds from the California

Transportation Commission. The ferry service began after the 1989 earthquake.

Bay Brw*x« Equipment

Designer Intl. Catamarans Pty. Ltd.

Engines Detroit

Gear Detroi

Auxiliary engine Isuzu

Generator Lima

Thruster KaMeW

Paint Hempel

Seating Turnbul

Yard.... Gladding Hearn

Type.... Whale watch

Name .. Friendship TV

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, licensee for Australia-based Inter- national Catamaran Designs (Incat), delivered the Friendship

TV whale watch vessel to Bar Har- bor Whale Watch Co. The 92-ft. (28- m), 149-passenger catamaran is powered by twin 815-hp Detroit

Diesel DDEC engines, and the builder claims the boat is the fastest of its type in North America, with a top speed of more than 28 knots.

Using that speed for profit, owner

Marc Brent said the vessel's speed will allow his company to make three daily whale watch trips in- stead of two. The all-aluminum vessel incorporates Incat's Z-Bow configuration.

Friendship IV Equipment List

Main engines Detroit Diesel

For more information... on the yards reviewed in this story, please circle the corresponding number on the Reader

Service Card bound in this issue.

A. Fai Engineers 30

Atlantic Marine 16

Austal Ships 29

Avondale 2

Bellcraft 21

Bender Shipbuilding 25

Etoh Marine 31

Gladding-Hearn 3

Gold Coast Yachts 17

Hitatchi Zosen 32

Kvaerner Fjellstrand 27

Kvichak 24

Leroux & Lotz 28

Nichols Brothers 0

Navatek Ships 23

Service Marine 18

SkipperLiner 7

Sovereign Submarines 42

Trinity Marine 19

USA Catamarans 5

WaveMaster 26 32 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News