25 revised and updated May 27, 1998

New Model Engines for Dinner Cruise Vessel

Freeport Shipbuilding in Freeport Florida has delivered another of their popular dinner cruise vessels. This latest boat, the Spirit of Carolina, is 100X32 feet and is powered by a pair of the new Cummins N14-M engines rated at 400 hp each at 1800 RPM. The engines drive through Twin Disc MG5111 2.54:1 reduction gears. The owners specified that the compact low-profile engines be keel cooled in this installation. A heat exchanger configuration is also available. The quiet running four cycle engine is well suited to passenger operations where low noise levels are particularly important. Their compact configurations provides a spacious engine room for ease of service and maintenance. For increased fuel efficiency and improved emissions the engines are equipped with ceramic-clad dry exhaust manifolds for cost effective operation and greater passenger comfort.

"We have almost 500 hours on the engines, running steady since we brought the boat up from Freeport" says Chief Engineer Ed Chapman, who is impressed with the clean running engines "we do three harbour tours a day and often take dinner cruises."

Design speed for the steel hull is 10 to 11 knots. Owner, George "Chip" Campsen's Fort Sumpter Tours of Charleston South Carolina, was started in 1961, to honour the centennial of the Civil war in which Charlestons Fort Sumpter played a pivotal role. The "Spirit of Charleston", the third vessel in the company fleet, is be certified for 450 passengers and will comfortably seat 275 for dinner. She is the first in the fleet to have full kitchen facilities to both cook and serve meals. "The cooks come on board for the last harbour tour of the day to get dinner started," explains Capt. Forest Urick, "For dinner cruises we have 15 waiting staff and five boat crew." The "Spirit of Charleston" is the first passenger vessel to be equipped with Cummins' new 6-cylinder N14 engines which have derived from the legendary Cummins 855 engine. She is the first Cummins powered vessel for Chip Campsen, who holds of a 100 ton master license but no longer runs the boats. "The marine world is a fun business," he says, "I'm a lawyer too. The law is abstract while boats are concrete. The laws of physics are absolutely consistent, while the laws of man are subject to interpretation."

So how does the new vessel stack up? "I've heard good things about Cummins over the last few years and now this boat has met expectations," says the owner.

For more information contact:

Larry Neff
V-P Marine Marketing
Cummins Alabama Inc.
3422 Georgia Pacific Ave.
Mobile, Alabama
Ph: 334 452-6426 Fax:334 453-6657

Jim Murray
Freeport Shipbuilding
P.O. Box 49, Shipyard Rd
Freeport, FL 32439-0049
Ph: 904 835-4125 Fax:904 835-4873

George E. (Chip) Campsen III
Fort Sumpter Tours
Charleston, South Carolina
Ph. 803 722-1691

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