Singapore-based shipbuilder Strategic Marine has announced the launch of its new Aluminium 42m Gen 4 Fast Crew Boat (FCB) design. The vessel comes with a highly efficient new hull form and Z-bow which improves seakeeping, requires less power for the same speed and deadweight (DWT), reducing fuel consumption and lower emissions.
The new hull form has been developed in collaboration with Southerly Designs with CFD analysis and optimisation by Seaspeed Marine Consulting. It has been put through comprehensive model testing at the Australian Maritime College to further verify and validate the performance predictions. These extensive test results confirm that the hull resistance is reduced by over 8% compared to the Gen 3 hull form. Furthermore, the new vessel incorporates design enhancements based on feedback from operators, improving on the performance of Strategic Marine’s extremely successful Gen 3 design which was launched in2014.
The new Gen 4 FCB is 42m in length, with cargo carrying capacity of 190 tonnes, a clear deck area of 140m2, a cargo deck area of 120m2 and a deck loading capacity of 2.5 tonnes/m2. It has business class seating capacity for between 80 and 100 passengers with space for 12 crew in seven berths and one medical room/office.
The wheelhouse has been increased in size for optimum comfort and visibility and the main passenger super structure area has been fitted with maximum size windows with improved positioning to provide excellent passenger visibility, reducing motion sickness.
An optional gyro stabilizer significantly reduces the vessels rolling motion, increasing safety and efficiency during personnel transfers, the gyro coupled with an optional motion compensated gangway gives the ultimate level of safety for personnel transfers to the offshore installation. The vessel can also be fitted with an autonomous control module for either local or remote autonomous operations.
The Gen 4 FCB can be fitted with three Cummins KTA 50 M2 engines, delivering clean and efficient power of 4,026kw. The vessel can deliver a service speed in excess of 30 knots @ 85% MCR with a full speed of 32 knots @ 100% MCR and the fuel consumption at service speed is approximately 827 litres/hr (3 engines).
Chan Eng Yew, CEO of Strategic Marine, said: “Strategic Marine has considerable experience in building boats for this market having been doing so since 2001, with more than 70 fast crew boats delivered. Each new vessel design is based on our goal of continuous improvement, whilst exceeding our customers’ needs, operationally and environmentally. The latest Gen 4 design is Strategic Marine’s answer to the increasing operational demands of not only our clients, but the environment too.“
The vessel has already achieved “Approval In Principle” with Lloyds, BV and RINA, but can be classed with any other IACS classification society.
