New vessel designs

Hunting the wind to deliver green hydrogen globally

Hunting the wind to deliver green hydrogen globally

You know you’ve hit on an innovative vessel design when you’re not quite sure how to categorise it. For example, the Most Valuable Yacht (MVY) concept devised by UK start-up DRIFT Energy could be categorised as a hydrogen production and bunkering vessel or, alternatively, as a “green, self-filling tanker” or a “fishing boat for energy”, […]

New CTV design from NAV looks to the bigger picture

New CTV design from NAV looks to the bigger picture

A year on from the launch of its first 26m crew transfer vessel (CTV) concept, NAV Engineering & Technology has unveiled plans for a larger, 35m variant. But why go bigger on a proven design, and what’s in it for offshore operators? Formed last year as a subsidiary of Newport Shipping, NAV’s first offering was […]

Raising the bar for San Francisco pilot boat design

Raising the bar for San Francisco pilot boat design

In California, pilotage for vessels sized 750gt and over is mandatory, so the San Francisco Bar Pilots (SFBP) must accompany nearly 8,000 ships in and out of the state’s ports each year, writes Stevie Knight. The pilot vessels are required by law to stand ‘on station’ outside the Golden Gate Bridge, roughly 12nm away from […]

Seawork showcases diverse hullforms

Seawork showcases diverse hullforms

Standardised hullforms mean many workboats came to look a lot like each other. However, times are changing, mostly driven by the need to reduce the marine sector’s carbon footprint, alongside a growing understanding that alternative fuels will only provide, at best, a partial answer, writes Stevie Knight. Therefore, Seawork 2024, hosted in June, saw a […]

First trip for the Phantom

First trip for the Phantom

Vision Electric Boats, the boatbuilding division set up by Canadian electric outboard manufacturer Vision Marine Technologies, unveiled its new “unsinkable” polyethylene boat, the Phantom, at the 2024 Miami International Boat Show. The bright blue boat was produced using rotational moulding (aka rotomoulding): a technique used to create large, one-piece, complex shapes, typically with uniform wall […]

Aero sector inspires Incat’s e-ferry plans

Aero sector inspires Incat’s e-ferry plans

Incat Tasmania has taken inspiration from the skies, having unveiled plans to “do for short sea-sea ferry services what Boeing did for the aviation industry” with a new range of electric ferries. And, just as Boeing reduced its development and manufacturing costs by incorporating standardised components and processes, so Incat predicts that the new e-ferry […]

All aboard the BMT ‘bike bus’

All aboard the BMT ‘bike bus’

Decarbonisation of the ferry sector continues to gain pace, with naval architect and designer BMT recently providing a preview of its forthcoming EF-500 all-electric passenger vessel concept. Developed to meet international demand for low- and zero-emission ferry services, the EF-500 concept was unveiled at the International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans, hosted between November-December 2023, […]