521 September 2008

A Tradition of Innovation for Lake Charles Pilot Boat

In the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav the Lake Charles Pilots instituted a daylight only regime and a recommended 38-foot fresh water draft. But they kept the ships moving in the twisting and challenging Caleasieu Ship Channel. www.lakecharlespilots.com/vtis.cfm

Traffic on the ship channel will see an increase in LNG tankers with forecasts for more than 400 transits per year. Lake Charles pilot, Capt. Mike Miller has said, “With all this new traffic on the river, we wanted a stable boarding boat with a deep-V hull that can operate continuously to the outermost sea buoy, 30 miles off the coast. The sea conditions out there normally run three to five feet, but can climb to ten feet.”

In America, deep-V hulls are synonymous with the late C. Raymond Hunt who founded the firm with current president John Deknatel in the 1960s. The Deep-V hull has been a mainstay of the company ever since. According to the company web page, www.huntdesigns.com the design was, “Conceived and patented by C. Raymond Hunt in 1963, the high-deadrise, or deep-V, hull is proven and accepted as the ultimate hull form for speed with comfort and safety in rough water. … The sharp entry forward keeps pounding to a minimum. There is no deep forefoot to cause bow steering and broaching. The V-shape is carried all the way to the transom, which results in evenly distributed displacement and lateral plane….”

Since 1978 C. Raymond Hunt Associates have collaborated with Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding to design and build tough, high-speed deep-V pilot boats. As ship draft has increased pilots have moved further off shore in meeting ships and often board at higher speed. The collaboration of designer and builder has, over the years, evolved a range of pilot boats designs to meet a range of requirements, from the 43-foot Resilient Class to the 75-foot Charleston Class. It was this later hull that formed the basis on which the Lake Charles pilots worked to develop a boat to meet their own particular needs. www.gladding-hearn.com/

Designed by C. Raymond Hunt and under construction at Gladding-Hearn, the new boat will be powered by a pair of Cummins QSK38 Tier 2 engines each developing 1350 HP at 1900 RPM and turning 5-blade 41-inch Bruton props through Twin Disc MGX-6620A gears.

Founded by Clessie Cummins in the very early 20th century, Cummins Inc. has grown to become “a global power leader that is a corporation of complementary business units that design, manufacture, distribute and service engines and related technologies, including fuel systems, controls, air handling, filtration, emission solutions and electrical power generation systems. Headquartered in Columbus, Indiana (USA), Cummins serves customers in more than 160 countries through its network of 550 company-owned and independent distributor facilities and more than 5,000 dealer locations. Cummins reported net income of $739 million on sales of $13.05 billion in 2007.” www.cummins.com

The Tier 2 main engines on the pilot boat will be fitted with Cummins’ CentinelÔ lube-oil management system, adding fresh oil, as needed, to replace small amounts of oil removed and burned through the fuel system. When combined with the EliminatorÔ oil lube filtering systems, extends time between oil changes to over 4,000 operating hours.

With these engines, the C. Raymond Hunt designed, Gladding-Hearn built and Cummins-powered 75’8”x20’8”x10’ Lake Charles pilot boat is expected to reach 27 knots when delivered in mid-2009.

<Download specs in pdf format.>

For further information:

Peter Duclos
Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding
Duclos Corp.
1 Riverside Ave.
Box 300
Somerset, MA 02726
Phone: 508 676 8596
E-mail: peterd@gladding-hearn.com

Cheryl P. Lavalley, P.E.
Cummins Northeast, Inc.
Distributor Application Engineer, Industrial & Marine
Phone: 781 751 1273
E-mail: Cheryl.p.lavalley@cummins.com

Capt. Mike Miller,
President
Lake Charles Plots
4902 Ihles Road,
Lake Charles, LA70605
Phone: 337 436 0372
E-mail: miller@lakecharlespilots.com
or gmowbray@lakecharlespilots.com

Winn Willard,
Vice_President
C.Raymond Hunt Associates
5 Dover St. Suite 105
New Bedford, MA 02740
Phone: 508 717 0600
E-mail: info@crhunt.com

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