Posted on 3/28/2018
When it comes to pilot boats, the partnership between naval architectural firm C. Raymond Hunt Associates, New Bedford, MA, and shipbuilder Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, A Duclos Company, Somerset, MA, has spanned some 50 years and dozens of vessels. Now Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding will construct a fourth pilot boat based on a C. Raymond Hunt Deep V hull design for the Louisiana-based Lake Charles pilots.
With delivery set for 2018, the new pilot boat will have an length overall of 70 ft, beam of 22 ft, and draft of 6.8 ft. The vessel will be powered by two Cummins QSK38-M, EPA Tier 3 diesel engines, each delivering 1,300 Bhp at 1,800 rev/min and a top speed of 27 knots. The engines will turn five-blade NiBrAl Bruntons propellers, connected to a pair of Twin Disc gear box...