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Blohm+Voss' Mekat Ready For First Commercial Orders Greg Trauthwein, editor S ix years in development, the MEKAT-type fast vessel from Hamburg-based Blohm + Voss is now attracting substantial — in terms of quality and quantity — inquiries from potential owners, yard officials report. Blohm + Voss was recently running the prototype MEKAT 150 Corsair through its paces for the marine technical community at FAST '95, an international event held in Travemunde, Germany, which attracted more than 325 delegates, predominantly from the research and development ranks. The demonstration was effective in many ways, particularly in emphasizing performance particulars. It is one thing to read about a 45-knot maximum speed on a specification sheet; quite another to be on the bridge when the captain calls out a water depth of "3.5 meters" at a speed of 42 knots. The name MEKAT is derived from "Mehrzweck Katamaran" and literally means multi-purpose catamaran. Blohm + Voss has held up its end in designing the vessel to fit the name. While the yard is currently focusing on a Coast Guard version of the vessel, it has been designed to fill many roles, including: military vessel; patrol vessel; fisheries pro- tection vessel; and sea traffic control ves- sel, to name a few. The MEKAT 150 is a 170-ton displace- ment vessel which measures 115.8 ft. (35.3 m) x 42.65 ft. (13 m) with a 7.54-ft. (2.3-m) draft off cushion, and a 2.62-ft. (.8-m) draft on cushion. For passenger vessel configurations, it is available in the Corsair 300 and Corsair 600 models, both with speeds to 44 knots. The Corsair is powered by two MTU 16V 396 TB94 diesel engines, rated at 2,133 kW each. The lift fan engines are two MTU 6V 396 TB 93 engines rated at 400 kW each. The MEKAT 150 is the upper limit in size and full load displacement for a coast guard/po- body and a semi-tunneled aftbody, giv- ing space for one or two large diameter propellers. The hull form is designed to provide low resistance combined with high stability performance, and superior propulsion FAST '97 lice version. Customer demand required the yard to come up with a smaller MEKAT de- sign, the result being the MEKAT 80. The MEKAT 80 series is available in lengths from 85.3 ft. to 98.4 ft. (26 to 30 m) and speeds from 40 to 58 knots. The fourth international conference on Fast Sea Transportation — FAST '97 — is scheduled for July 211 23,1997, in Sydney, Australia. FAST '97 will bring together the maritime community for a conference and exhi bition. FAST '97 aims to contribute to the design, construction, and safe and economical operation of high-spee marine craft. Every aspect of these craft ana their operations is open for examination and discussion. Provisional session topics are: monohulls and hybrids; catamarans; machinery; structural design; waterjets propulsion systems; testing techniques; performance on inland waterways; and the environment, to name but tew. A call for papers is expected for July 1996, and abstracts will be due to the conference secretariat by Octobe 30,1996. For additional information on FAST '97, contact the conference secretariat at: tel: +61 39826 8741 fax: +61 39827 0704. OTHER FAST SHIPS Blohm + Voss' efforts in the area of fast ves- sel design are not lim- ited to the MEKAT, and in fact the yard is developing an entire product family based on the fast monohull principle. The vessel family is characterized by a very slender fore- 44 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
