New York Water Taxi Orders Fifth Incat

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation, has taken another order for a high-speed water taxi from New York City-based New York Water Taxi. Delivery is scheduled for July 2008. Like the four sisters before her, the bright yellow, all-aluminum catamaran, designed by Incat Crowther, measures 72 feet (22m) long and 27.3 feet (8.3m) abeam, and draws 5 feet (1.5m). The new vessel will be USCG-certified to carry 149 passengers but limited to only 99 passengers when operating at the city’s “water-taxi-designated” docks. The vessel will be powered by twin Cummins QSK 19-M diesel engines, each rated at 800 Bhp at 2100 rpm. The EPA Tier-2-compliant engines will drive 5-bladed Ni-BR-Al Bruntons propellers via Twin Disc MGX 5145SC “Quick Shift” gearboxes and EC-300 control systems. Like her sisters, the new vessel’s top, loaded speed will be 26 knots. The boat’s carpeted main cabin will seat 98 passengers and be entirely accessible for passengers in wheel chairs. The exposed upper deck, behind the wheelhouse, will seat 50 passengers, with standing room for another 20. Passengers will board and disembark through doors at the side and the bow between the main cabin and foredeck. The heated foredeck will prevent passengers from slipping on ice and snow in the winter. The main cabin will be equipped with double-glazed windows, Beurteaux Ocean Tourist seats, two 42” plasma TV monitors, a head, snack bar, and HVAC. Interior sound levels are expected to be approximately 72 dba. Illuminated LED destination signs will be located in the main cabin above the passenger doors. Gladding-Hearn has built 36 high-speed, passenger catamarans for service in the U.S. and the Caribbean since becoming a U.S. Licensee of Incat Designs in 1984.