FEATURE
OFFSHORE
Fig. 6a - Baseline-175 Piercing a 7ft Wave.
Fig. 6b - TH-184 Slicing into a 12ft Wave.tif
has a 12 % speed gain in calm water, and 16.5% in 2-meter waves.
Accelerations:
The acceleration data is being analyzed and is expected to confirm the smooth ride trend observed during the model tests. Fig. 6a shows Baseline175's strained piercing of a 7 ft wave and Fig. 6b shows TH-184's easy slicing
into a 12 ft wave. Figs. 7a and 7b show Baseline-175 and TH-184 exiting a 12 ft wave. The horizontal attitude of TH184 model in the photos, confirm its steady near zero pitch angle across the waves. Tank tests also showed that with 3.5-meter waves the Baseline-175 model could not be tested beyond 10 knots, due to excessive (wild) pitch excursions. The TH-184 at the same
weight yielded smooth ride at 30 knots with 3.5-meter waves.
Fuel Economy Benefits
Published fuel consumption of Baseline 175 is 292 gph at cruise speed with a 400 tons representative displacement. Assuming 10 hrs/day, 300days/year utilization, the fuel consumption is 876,000 gallons/year. At $2.00
gallon for 2010, fuel costs are $1,752,000/year. From the tow tank data of TH 184, a 30% fuel reduction is estimated, resulting in $525,600 savings per TH boat per year. A fleet of 10 TH boats in 5 years would provide $26,280,000 fuel savings, and in 10 years $52,560,000. In 20 years, fuel savings alone would amply cover costs of building 10 TH boats now.
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Maritime Reporter & Engineering News