Page 36: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 2013)

36 MARITIME REPORTER & ENGINEERING NEWS ? FEBRUARY 2013 ability to produce them en masse. ?It is one thing to build one boat, quite another to build 100 of them consecutively.? The tight time-frame and urgency was centered solely on the upcoming IDEX military technology exhibition which is a tri-service (land, sea, air) defense exhi-bition, scheduled to be held February 17-21 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) is centrally located in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. ?IDEX only happens every two years,? Barlett said, ?and we wanted to launch in our own country, and we didn?t want to wait an additional two years (for the next IDEX). There is a requirement for the military here, right now. So the initial program was set up to service the UAE military. As it?s turned out now, requirements outside the UAE are 100 times bigger than our own country?s re- quirement.?MEET THE FLEET In the budding relationship between Al Seer Marine and 5G International, the initial target for the vessel was the UAE military, but as the project has evolved and markets explored, the collective be-lieve the potential outside of military cir- cles is much larger in potential. Focused Þ rst on the UAE military, however, has helped to create an end product that is attractive to both sectors. ?First and fore-most, it has to be off-the-shelf, designed and built in the UAE,? said Bartlett. In part this harkens back to the govern-ment?s desire to inspire and develop home-grown technology and industry. ?We are putting together a world-class project, (and there are other competitors in the world) but not in this country,? said Bartlett. ?There are of course com-petitors outside of the UAE, but we?ve got a better product, and we certainly have a better price.?Today the ß eet of USVs centers on three vessels, from the Sea Serpent, a small 3-m ?jet ski? version; to the Boo-meranger, the larger 11-m RIB; and the Eclipse, the top-of-class 11-m monohull. While USV technology is surely not in its infancy, in relative terms, particu- larly when considering dramatic strides made in aerial and ground robotics, it is still pre-puberty. To help propel its ma- turity, the Al Seer/5G solution takes into account not simply the vessels, but the entire package, from technical outÞ t to maintenance, as well as safe and efÞ -cient launch and recovery. For example, an outstanding feature of the top model, the 11m Eclipse mono- hull, is a proprietary hybrid propulsion system. Powered by twin Fiat N67500 engines with a light commercial rating of just over 500 hp driving Rolls-Royce jets through ZF gears, the USV sports a top speed excess of 60 knots. But it is when the vessel slows down that it truly shows its value. Featuring a pair of 13kW electric mo- tors, the proprietary hybrid propulsion system gives the USV the ability to loi- ter for extended lengths of time, an in-telligent system that allows the user, for example, to use only one jet at a time to hold station, effectively extending bat- tery life and subsequently loiter time by eight to 10 hours.?A lot of the hybrid systems have been developed for recreational use to give you electric power out of the ma-rina. But we are obviously looking for something that will provide hundreds of thousands of hours of reliable use,? said Keith Henderson, Director, 5G Marine Systems LLC, and the man that Murphy credits with identifying and bringing to-gether the suppliers and components in quick, seamless order. ?The system is robust, with only minimal moving parts and with service after 20,000 hours at sea before anything has to be replaced.?The Fiat engines were selected be-ABOVEThe 3m, 60+ knots Sea Serpent USV. LEFTMembers of the 5G team the the Al Seer Marine yard in Abu Dhabi, UAE. From Left: Keith Henderson, Robert J. Murphy and Aditya Nawab.An outstanding feature of the, the 11m Eclipse monohull , is a pro- prietary hybrid propulsion system (pictured left Powered by twin Fiat N67500 engines with a light commercial rating of just over 500 hp driving Rolls-Royce jets through ZF gears, the USV sports a top speed excess of 50 knots.Featuring a pair of 13kW electric motors, the proprietary propul- sion system gives the USV the ability to loiter for extended lengths of time, an intelligent system that allows the user, for example, to use only one jet at a time to hold station, effectively extending battery life and subsequently loiter time by eight to 10 hours. The hybrid system currently is available only on the Eclipse, but eventually will be available on all 3.The PowerThe 50+ knot RIB Boomeranger. The Waterjets The Batteries(All Photos this page: Greg Trauthwein) ROBOTICSMR #2 (34-41).indd 36MR #2 (34-41).indd 362/3/2013 2:38:19 PM2/3/2013 2:38:19 PM