Gladding-Hearn Builds New Boat for Delaware Pilots

Posted by Eric Haun July 30, 2014

Close sister vessel previously delivered to the Delaware pilots. (Photo courtesy of Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding)

The Delaware pilots association has ordered its third pilot boat of the popular Chesapeake class from Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation. Delivery of the new 53-footer is scheduled for 2015, and will mark the sixteenth of this class built by the Somerset, Mass., shipyard, since introduced in 2002.

Designed by C. Raymond Hunt & Associates, the all-aluminum pilot boat measures 52.6 feet overall, with a 17-foot beam and 4.8-foot draft, and will have a top speed of 26 knots. It will be powered by twin Volvo Penta D16 diesel engines, each delivering 651 Bhp at 1800 rpm, with ZF 500-1-A gear boxes. Each engine will have a two-circuit Fernstrum keel-cooling system. The engines will turn 5-blade NiBrAl propellers. Volvo Penta’s EVC system will be mounted at the control stations in the wheelhouse and at the transom.

The wheelhouse will be outfitted with five Stidd seats and a three-zone, diesel-fired Espar Hydronic 35 heater for the cabin, main deck, and handrails. The forward wheelhouse windows feature ¾-inch electrically-heated laminated glass for de-icing. Interior sound levels are projected to be 78 dba.

At the transom will be a winch-operated rotating davit over a recessed platform for pilot rescue operation. The Delaware pilots chose an unpainted launch to reduce maintenance costs.

gladding-hearn.com