Moose Boats, an aluminum boat manufacturer, has
been awarded a contract from the Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration
(MARAD), for the construction of two Moose 340C Catamaran Patrol Boats. These patrol boats
will be assigned to the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet located in Benicia, California. The Suisun Bay
Fleet consists of dry cargo ships, tankers, military auxiliaries and other types of reserve ships in
the custody of the Maritime Administration.
The Moose 340C is a 37’-6” All-Aluminum Jet Powered Catamaran with twin Cummins
380hp turbo diesels and is propelled by Hamilton 292 water jets. This vessel can attain a top
speed of over 34 knots, cruise at almost 30 knots, come to a full-speed stop in less than two boat
lengths and turn on a dime. Its 21” draft will allow all of this to be done in less than 3’ of water
which is ideal for it patrol application in the Suisun Bay.
Moose Boats currently has a contract with the US NAVY to build a total of thirteen 340Cs
and over the past eighteen months eleven have been delivered. Moose has also built a similar
vessel for the U.S. Park Police that currently patrols the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, New York
Harbor and surrounding areas. The Moose Boat design was chosen because of its fast and
stable catamaran hull and its powerful water jet propulsion that was well suited to meet mission
requirements.