A quiet revolution in high-speed marine passenger transport is taking place
in a small shipyard in Tasmania, Australia’s southernmost state. Who could
fail to be impressed by the thought of a 120m catamaran carrying more than 1250
passengers and 460 cars at more than 50 knots!
Tasmania and Hobart in particular have a long and proud tradition of
shipbuilding. The skills of those pioneering shipbuilders live on in a modern
Hobart shipyard today, where revolutionary shipbuilder Incat builds the world’s
fastest passenger ships. The kind of ship Incat builds is a Wave Piercing
Catamaran (WPC). Incat developed the WPC concept and each increment in length
sees even further refinement in vessel design. Incat WPCs are in active service
in Australia, Europe and North America and are either in service or have been
represented on all the world’s major passenger routes.
The latest generation of high speed WPCs in production in Hobart Tasmania is
the Revolution 120. This ship represents the absolute latest in high speed ship
design and manufacture. Beautifully constructed and finished, the Revolution 120
sets as high a standard in passenger comfort as it does in design and
engineering excellence.
Incat Shipbuilding Technology
Incat has a simple equation for success... light + powerful = fast. That’s
easy enough to write down but slightly more difficult to turn into reality.
Incat pushes the limits of shipbuilding in theory and practice. The entire ship
is built completely of fabricated aluminium, welded and glued together. Its
twin-hulled catamaran configuration is designed to pierce waves rather than ride
up and over. A large center hull stops nose-diving in heavy seas. Because the
vessel is very light, even when fully loaded, the submerged hulls can be long
and slender, thus reducing drag and aiding speed and efficiency.
Power is provided by four Ruston or Caterpillar 20 cylinder marine diesel
engines in the Evolution 10 class, and gas turbines in the Revolution 120 class.
Power is delivered by LIPS waterjets configured for steering and reverse
operation. These waterjets can throw out 18 tonnes of water every second and
produce the characteristic "rooster tail" behind the ship when it is
under way.
Mark Dewey, Incat shipyard liaison
manager shows John Ryan, VP Sales CADKEY, and Barry Dyson Australian CADKEY
distributor the helm in a Revolution 120 wheelhouse during fit out..
Using "unconventional" design and construction technologies in a
vessel of this size and capacity carries with it a new set of engineering
problems and equally "unconventional" solutions. Problems that would
traditionally be matched by using bigger, heavier components must be solved with
smart, lightweight designs. If there is any thing that encapsulates the Incat
philosophy it is the "can-do" attitude, that is evident at every level
throughout the company.
Mark Dewey, Incat shipyard liaison
manager and John Ryan, VP Sales CADKEY, in the main construction shed at the
Incat yard. The vessel under construction is a Revolution 120 class WPC.
There's more than 450 tonnes of high-strength marine grade aluminium alloy in
each WPC providing the optimum strength to weight ratio. This metal is sourced
in structural sections and plate from specialist suppliers in The Netherlands
and Switzerland. Materials are plasma-cut using software proprietary to the
cutting equipment on site. Nesting plans are generated automatically at first
and then tweaked manually to extract a useable part from every stock piece of
material. To get the maximum efficiency from a cutting run sometimes means
including parts that won’t be need until the next vessel, but the eagle eyes
of the cut planners will fit in a part where ever the opportunity arises to
reduce waste.
Ride comfort is a top consideration in the design of the Incat WPC. Through a
detailed analysis of sea states, routes and operating envelopes, Incat in
conjunction with Maritime Dynamics, Inc have developed a fully integrated ride
control system. This system incorporates aft trim tabs and an active fold-down
forward T-foil.
Aluminium Fabrication and Welding
Incat is a world leader in aluminium fabrication and welding technologies.
Aluminium is a notoriously difficult metal to work with. The structural
components of marine craft take a very heavy battering from the sea and it is
vital that every aspect of the construction is perfect. There is no point using
the best materials and the best design if the workmanship in putting it
altogether is not up to the task. The majority of jointing and welding is
carried out manually and demands a very high level of skill and care from the
people whose job it is to put the pieces together.
A view of the inside of an Incat WPC that few will ever see, shows the complexity and extent of construction detailing required in the ship’s superstructure.
Incat has developed a close relationship with Hobart Institute of Technical
and Further Education (TAFE). The results of this collaboration are training
courses where employees receive off site theoretical studies and part of their
practical training experience on site. This enables workers to develop the
highest level of technical skill in aluminium fabrication and welding skills with
training modules directly matched to Incat construction needs. The purpose-built
TAFE College of Aluminium Training has been constructed adjacent to the yard for
even greater convenience.
