Strategic Locates In North America
The Henderson Australia-based boat builder Strategic Marine has operated a boat building facility in Singapore for a number of years. In May and June they launched a pair of the 131.2-ft crew boats there. In February this year they held the official opened a new yard in Vung Tau City Vietnam. At the same time their new yard, a joint venture with Servicies Industriales Navales, in Mazatlan Mexico has a pair of 170.6 X 32.8-ft crew boats under construction for a 2009/10 delivery.
The boats are being built for Blue Marine (www.bluemarine.com.mx/esp/index.html) to meet a Pemex supply contract in the Gulf of Mexico. They are the largest crew boats that Strategic has built at any of their locations to date and will have 223 square meters (2400 sq. feet) of open cargo deck space. Seating for 60 rig workers will be in the forward cabin.
The new boats have a complete suite of Cummins engines. Main engines for each vessel will be four Cummins 16-V turbo-charged and after-cooled KTA50-M2s each delivering 1800 HP at 1900 RPM into Twin Disc MGX6848-SC gears to turn propellers. The main engines are fitted with titanium plate-type heat exchangers. A Cummins 6BTA engine will power the Wesmar hydraulic bow thrusters. A second 6BTA will power the 99 kW generator-sets to provide ships power.
The 7200 HP vessels are designed to achieve 20 knots when loaded with 100 tons of cargo, rig workers, crew and one-third full fuel and water tanks. The boats are being built in accordance with American Bureau of Shipping rules and will be classed by ABC to X A1HSCXAMS HSC.
Delivery of the first vessel is scheduled for this fall with the second to follow in early 2010.
