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Ferries Report (Continued from page 34) immersed at the bow, with 10 percent reserve buoyancy. The remaining 80 percent reserve buoyancy is held in the forward central hull, located above the loaded water line. These ratios maintain the vessels' stability in all types of weather conditions and sea angles. The hull form for the 299 ft. (91-m) ferries is a full redesign of the Incat catamaran design in CADKEY mechan- ical CAD software (Baystate Technolo- gies, Inc., Marlborough, Mass.) "CAD- KEY is used here alongside AutoSHIP and MaxSurf by the naval architects to develop the hull shape," said Lee Hedd, Incat Naval Architect and CAD Admin- istrator. "This combination enables the designers to use the specialized buoyan- cy distributions and weight balance con- trol of the traditional hull-design pack- ages, and through FastSURF, bring that shape into CADKEY for detailed com- The Revolutionary New Shaft Seal for Water-Lubricated Sterntubes... From The Makers of The Original SIMPLEX® SEAL - Blohm + Voss Keep The Pressure On With SIMPLAN® Exclusively Distributed and Serviced in North America by: Effective in Both Blue & Brown Water lb 1 m 1 SIMPLEX-TURMAR Eliminates-Shaftwear, Water in Bilge & Frequent Maintenance t r, I c W Work Boats, Fishing Boats & Pleasure Craft SIMPLAN® features a unique neoprene seal body whose flexibility compensates for large axial and angular shaft movements, which provides greater operational reliability and a longer life. SIMPLAN® contains a revolutionary breakthrough for operation in poor conditions. The seal faces are composed of a SiC/SiC pairing, which is the first time ever that two hard materials have been combined. This innovation makes the life of SIMPLAN® Seals practically unlimited. OUR WORLDWIDE around-the-clock service network for all Simplex-Compact prod- ucts is in effect for SIMPLAN® Shaft Seals. Also.its modular design, along with its split carbon ring and its simple installation tool, make the SIMPLAN® Seal extremely user friendly. For More Information Call: 888-357-3257 Or Visit Our Web Site: www.simplex-turmar.com Regional Offices: Great Lakes • East Coast • West Coast • Gulf Coast parisons and design checks. The sim- plicity and flexibility of 3D modeling in CADKEY makes designing the required Incat hull shape much easier." The 91-m class of ships had interest- ing and challenging design parameters that required generous use of the soft- ware's 3-D modeling features. Four massive water jets speed the ferry along the waves — each one pumping 19.8 tons of water per second. To meet with new regulations requiring the bridge to have a 360-degree view, the full-width wheelhouse has been moved forward from the smaller-class ferry designs. The wheelhouse is fitted with central and wing control positions for docking facilitation. Passenger comfort is, naturally, para- mount to a vessel of this nature's suc- cess, and according to the builders, these ships are built for speed and com- fort. According to Hedd, "The anti- vibration mounts are placed on the 3-D superstructure model and checked for required clearances and tolerances before the final installation details were decided." Incat then enhanced the "total passenger experience" by including two sheltered sundeck areas behind the wheelhouse. These offer an expansive view of the horizon and a good look inside the wheelhouse. The interior design of the 91-meter ships is provided by Incat's In-house Design Group (IDG), and their mandate is to maximize onboard revenue poten- tial while still retaining the unique style and comfort for passengers, keeping in mind that the ships will be used on long open-seas routes. Seating for the 877 paying passengers is accommodated with aircraft-style seats. The upper passenger level has a bar with banquet style chairs. "We even used CADKEY to arrange and detail the interior of the passenger cabin. The IDG can quickly provide and modify layout proposals for customers, includ- ing 3-D conceptual models, and then once the interior layout is finalized, IDG provides all of the required 2-D con- struction drawings for the interior. The very plans that the customer agrees on become the plans used to build the ves- sel. The ability to use one CAD pack- age for all of this has proven to be very cost-effective," Hedd said. Circle 2 on Reader Service Card 38 Circle 305 on Reader Service Card Maritime Reporter/Engineering News