Chris Mulder News

Capilano Maritime Design Ltd. has been awarded the design contract for a 23-car, 149-passenger Ro-Ro Ferry to replace the Bob Ellis currently being utilized by the Ketchikan Gateway Borough in Ketchikan Alaska. The vessel will be built at Alaska Ship & Drydock, Inc., also located in Ketchikan. The new ferry will be delivered to the State of Alaska in 2011. Capilano Maritime is a naval architecture and marine engineering design firm based in North Vancouver, BC, Canada. The firm is co-owned by Chris Mulder, P.Eng, and Mark Mulligan, P.Eng.

Northern Transportation Company Ltd. of Hay River, Canada, recently completed a major refit of one of their quad screw pusher-towing tugs, the Edgar Kotokak. Vancouver's Robert Allan Ltd. provided design and engineering services for the refit which improved the operational efficiency of the tug. The refit included new CAT 3512B engines and replaced the open propellers and rudders with integrated Nautican Nozzles and Triple Rudders. Although total engine power increased from 4,500 to 5,640 hp on the Edgar Kotokak, and obviously bollard pull trials showed improvement, anecdotal evidence from the first month or so of operation seems to indicate that both the nozzles and Triple Rudders together with the new engines have improved the overall fuel efficiency.