FastShip Selects Gear Corporation As Supplier

FastShip, Inc. has reached an agreement with Philadelphia Gear Corporation to supply sophisticated transmission equipment for the company's high-speed trans-Atlantic fleet. The $35 million order is the largest in Philadelphia Gear's 100-year history, bringing more than 100 direct and indirect jobs to the region. Per the agreement, Philadelphia Gear will supply 20 gearboxes - five in each of FastShip's initial four vessels - plus one spare gearbox and additional parts, as well as a 10-year service maintenance package. The gears will help generate power for the vessels equivalent to two and a half times that of a jumbo jet. Philadelphia Gear will also participate in vendor financing of FastShip, which intends to complete its total financing package by year-end 1999. The gearboxes will link the five Rolls-Royce marine Trent engines to Kamewa water jets, delivering a total of 250 Mw or 335,000-hp. This propulsion package will enable the 860 ft. (262 m) vessels, carrying a 10,000-ton payload, to complete the passage from Philadelphia to Cherbourg in less than four days, while sustaining speeds up to 40 knots.