Page 47: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2010)

November 2010 www.marinelink.com 47 “This boat is probably the most high tech boat that we have in the fleet," said Divi- sion Chief Michael Cox, a county Fire

Department spokesman. The boat will be docked in a Southern portion of the county and patrol from the Bay Bridge to the Calvert County line. According to county officials, Arundel Patriot can even respond to a nuclear attack. Officials said several terrorist targets can be hit from the waters of the Chesapeake, from Fort

George G. Meade and NSA in Western county, to the Naval Academy, the Bay

Bridge, scores of marinas and the Port of

Baltimore along the shoreline.

The Moose M2-35 catamaran hull is fitted with twin 300hp Evinrude out- boards engines; and a large, below-deck fire pump delivers 1,400 GPM at 150 PSI to an RF controlled electric roof-mounted monitor. Additionally, the vessel is fitted with two 2.5-in. connections for hand lines and a 5-in. Storz connection to pro- vide a significant supply of water to a shore pumper or hydrant. Shock-mitigat- ing seats provide safety and comfort for the crew and an extensive array of the lat- est navigation and communications gear is strategically and ergonomically in- stalled for ease of use. www.mooseboats.com

Arundel Patriot Main Particulars

Length, o.a. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34.7 ft.

Beam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13.5 ft.

Draft Hull/Max. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 in.

Dead Rise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15@

Displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16,200 lbs. (dry)

Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250 gal.

Propulsion2 x Evinrude Outboards, Twin 300HP E-Tech

Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Westerbeke 5.0 BCGD

Fire Pump Eng. . . . . . . . . . . . .5.0 ltr Mercruiser MPI

Fire Pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HALE 60FB

Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . .Elkhart Brass “Scorpion RF”

Electronics . . . . . .Furuno, Icom, Simrad & Motorola

Collar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .WING Inflatables

M.V. Vortex for

Solent Towage

Solent Towage Ltd. of Southampton,

UK, a division of Østensjø Rederi AS of

Haugesund, Norway took delivery of its latest tug from Astilleros Gondan SA.

Vortex is designated as an AVT 37/80

Class, and is the latest of the AVT series of Voith-powered escort tug designs from

Robert Allan Ltd., Naval Architects of

Vancouver BC. The Vortex was designed to perform a wide range of tasks, includ- ing: ship-handling, tanker escort, ocean towing, salvage and anchor handling du- ties. Accordingly, the design is somewhat unique for a true tractor, where the "stern" is heavily fendered for ship-han- dling operations, but then is also fitted with a stern roller and Karm-Forks etc. for the onerous anchor-handling opera- tions.

The aft end geometry is thus also quite different to other tugs of this AVT series, with a much broader stern. Vortex is classed for unrestricted duty and accord- ingly was built to DNV Class notation +1A1 Tug, E0, OilRec, Fi-Fi I, Escort (130/10). The tug is fully equipped for fire-fighting, Oil Recovery, and salvage operations. Propulsion comprises a pair of Wärtsilä 8L26 diesel engines, each rated 2650 kW at 900 rpm, and each driv- ing a Voith Model 32R5/265-2 drive unit.

With this propulsion system, the vessel performance satisfied all expectations, with a recorded Bollard Pull of 73 tons and a free-running speed of 14.5 knots.

The indirect steering and braking force capabilities have been fully analyzed and are predicted at 130 tons steering and 170 tonnes braking at 10 knots, but these val- ues are awaiting verification by full-scale measurement.