Moose Boats Awarded Contract for Patrol Boats

Moose Boats, a boat designer and manufacturer in the San Francisco Bay Area, has been awarded a new contract from the U.S. Navy for the construction of twelve M2-35 Catamaran Patrol Boats. The contract totals approximately $5.1m with vessels to be delivered over a 20-month time period beginning in December 2006. The M2-35 is a 35.5 ft. aluminum catamaran powered by twin Cummins 380 hp turbo diesels and is propelled by Hamilton 292 water jets. These vessels will be assigned to the U.S. Navy’s Kings Bay, Georgia and Kitsap, Washington SUBASEs and are specifically designed to meet emergent Anti-terrorism/Force Protection requirements. The M2-35 crafts will be used to detect, identify, warn, disable or defeat potential threats in the vicinity of vulnerable U.S. Naval assets. The wide stable hull along with an all-weather cabin will accommodate a crew of five. Its shallow 21 in. draft allows for a great deal of maneuverability within depths of less than 3 ft. of water. The boats will have a service speed of 28 knots and a top speed of over 34 knots. This series of vessels features a total of (4) .50 cal weapons mounts. Moose Boats has constructed 14 patrol boats for the U.S. Navy under four separate contracts.