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for the oil & gas industry.? Both commercial and military applications for this hull form are driven chie y by pure economics. In smaller sea states, the X-Bow, with more volume up forward and high up over the waterline, absorbs the motions of ship through the added buoyancy of the hull. A controlled submergence prevents the bow from ever being submerged, virtually eliminating green water on deck, lessening the loads and accelerations associated with that. Markedly reduced hull (and crew) fatigue and more ef cient propulsion are key bene ts of this metric. Depending on the sea state, this allows signi cantly higher speeds and signi cantly better fuel consumption. And, given the vessel?s wide range of expected mission mix, the vessel will therefore be tted with a diesel electric propulsion system. It all sounds great. But, with the Coast Guard in no position to make another mistake, the track record of the X-Bow is arguably unrivaled by any other design in the oil patch. Receiving great reviews from early customers such as Bourbon Offshore, there are now actually eight different shipyards producing the hull all over the world, in series, with a combined output to date of 43 boats serving as OSV?s, anchor handlers, and seismic vessels. With that kind of proven functionality, two more are under construction in Norway right now. The hull form lends itself to series-build economy of scale, and this could eventually help Vigor demonstrate that they can produce an affordable hull for the Coast Guard. The scalable hull is today being built in various sizes; from 85 meters all the way up to 130 meters, with a 16 meter beam and up. The Coast Guard version will probably entail a 100 meter LOA design with a beam of 54?. Von Ruden adds, ?It?s reasonably slim in a ?cutter? form, aside from that boxy bow. The length-to-beam ratio is more slender than its predecessors. That?s because we looked at that early, and matched this to the Coast Guard?s speed requirements.? With accommodations planned for 126 to handle a myriad of missions and a crew size of about 90, this OPC hull will try to replace both the 210 foot medium endurance cutter (crew of 70) and the larger 270 foot medium endurance cutter (crew of about 100). Staying true to the Coast Guard?s mission of delivering coast guardsmen out to where they are needed, the crew size will average out to about the same, but Vigor says the hull will be more exible, doing more missions with one platform. REALITY MEETS REQUIREMENTS Operational requirements often have a painful way of colliding with political and nancial realities. The Coast Guard may eventually only get 8 national security cutters ? indeed, they may only get 6. Those are intended to replace 12 high endurance cutters, four of which will very soon be decommissioned. As such, the old mantra that every Coast Guard Commandant hates to hear ? doing more with less ? will once again come into play. Eventually, then, the OPC will have to step up and ll some of those capabilities. For example, today?s 270-foot cutters are not suitable for operations in the Paci c and their 210-foot cousins are likewise not well suited for extended offshore operations, either. Utilizing the Ulstein X-Bow, the Vigor OPC design could likely ll that gap and deploy in the Bering Sea?s harsh, Arctic conditions. And, although the Coast Guard has no public plans to augment new designs with ?ice- strengthened hulls,? it is worth noting that Ulstein does produce ICE 1A classi ed (DNV) vessels, so this class of vessel could be strengthened. Vigor?s von Ruden says, ?We?ve been watching that closely, being up here in Seattle, especially with the increased activity in the Arctic.? IN IT TO WIN ITVigor Shipyards and the Paci c Northwest itself already boast a good reputation for quality. The rm has shown what it can do in terms of series-build construction. The Washington state ferry projects have, by most reports, gone Vigor Shipyard employees in action 38 MNOctober 2012MNOct2012 Layout 32-49.indd 38MNOct2012 Layout 32-49.indd 3810/2/2012 9:57:36 AM10/2/2012 9:57:36 AM
