Page 56: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2012)

planing boats, but it?s their pumping numbers ? 17,000 gpm ? that are thehighest in existence for a boat that can go that speed. The Jacksonville boat was the fastest (70 footer) at 41 knots, and we are expecting the Houston boat to be 43 to 44 knots courtesty of more horsepower, as well as bigger pumps capable of an esti-mated 18,000 gpm.Clark explains that the three boat, $15m deal for the Houston boats is a particu- larly interesting project, and currentlythere are ongoing discussions to add afourth back-up boat to the fleet, given the vast expanse of operation and the critical petrochemical industry in the HoustonShip Channel to protect.?There are so many places in the world that can use fast, high pumping capacity boats,? said Clark. ?Typically they use old tug type displacement vessels travel- ling at 12 knots. The boats Houston are replacing are old, and the cost of mainte-nance was approaching $100,000 per boat, per year to keep them running 90% of the time.? The final fit and outfit of any vessel is of course depending the particularclient?s need, but Clark highlight the speed and the pumping capacity as cen-tral to their success. In addition, theHouston vessels feature a data link cam- era system that is designed to work with local police, police helicopters and otherfirst-responder agencies, in order to de- liver a homogenous and consistent pic- ture of the situation to all parties, and toallow the crew to gather data and initiate preparation enroute.The 70 foot fireboats are a step up from MetalCraft?s 50-foot fireboats, which are 35 knot boats wih pumping capacities inthe 7,000 to 8,000 gpm range. ?Simplyput, there physically was no more space to put pumps on the 50 foot boat,? Clark said.Future Challenges While MetalCraft has enjoyed a good run, it is not immune from standard chal-lenges to running an efficient company, and according to Clark the company?s challenges are hardly unique in this sec-tor: The finding and retention of qualified technical talent. While the challenges may not be unique, some of the solutionsemployed certainly are, including: A 4-Day Work Week ?We went to a 4-day week this year. The concept behind it is greater retentionof employees; as it really helps out young families that don?t make a fortune to save money on child care, for example.? Health Care ?We still don?t have a health plan in NY. Our company (in Canada) pays 0.98% of payroll to cover the basic health costs for our employees. On top of that we have a benefits package that covers their drug plan, their dental and vision ...and it costs a family $50 for coverage.? Training ?A Training program that we did with St. Lawrence College was a unique as it was an R&D program as well as a train- ing program on new technology welding machines. We didn?t feel that we were maximizing the high technology capabil-ities of these machines, so we conducteda study and re-wrote all of our weldingprocedures, which are in accordance withABS standards? and trained its workers to the new standards Apprenticeship Program Another big thing that we just started was the New Zealand Boat Builders Ap- prenticeship program. We started just this month, but to get it rolling it took 1.5 year in planning. We hired a course instructor that works part time; he?s a wooden boat builder and lives on Wolfe Island (Wolfe island is the home to MetalCraft Marine?s R&D cen- ter, situated and connected by ferry two miles from the Kingston, Ontario facility, and a half-mile from the Cape Vincent, NY facility). We set up a classroom on Wolf Island making it equally accessible for U.S. and Canadian guys. Today we have 17 enrolled, with a maximum ca- pacity of 20 to 25 for now.? 56Maritime Reporter & Engineering News WorkboatsZF Marine is a leader in marine propulsion systems,and it has enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial re- lationship with Kingston, Ontario based MetalCraftMarine in providing transmissions for the boats they build. In fact ZF has built its marine business on a strong presence in the high speed, high performanceboat market, and this extends to a long cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard, and most recently its FRCproject.?ZF has a long history of supplying mairne propul-sion systems to the Coast Guard,? said David Santos, ZF Marine. ?The 12 vessels under construction at Bollinger are very important to us. Being part of the U.S. defense is an honor for us.? Earlier this year, the USCG vessel Bernard C. Webber, the first of the new 154-ft. Sentinel Class Fast Response Cutters (FRC), was commissioned at Coast Guard Sector Miami. ZF Marine provided two ZF 23560C Marine Transmis- sions for each vessel. The ZF 23560C is only the lat- est in a long line of ZF Marine transmissions thathave served the US Coast Guard over the last 27 years. The first were installed in the 110-ft. Island Class patrol vessels back in 1985. Since then, ZF Marine has supplied transmissions to the US CoastGuard for nearly 10 more vessel applications. Today more than 200 US Coast Guard boats and cutters aresailing with ZF Marine transmissions. ?Future growth for govt. business is a major part of ZF?s strategy in the marine industry. We believe there is a good opportunity,? said Santos. ZF & MCM:A Strong Parntership ZF gears pictured onboard an impressive new 70 ft. fireboat under construction at MetalCraft Marine. A 70-ft. Fireboat under construction at MCM?s Kingston, Ontario facility. MR#11 (50-57):MR Template 11/4/2012 10:48 AM Page 56