Professional Mariner – American Ship Review 2025 – 2

YEAR AT A GLANCE

April 2024 Seaspan launched its second LNG bunkering vessel, Seaspan Lions. The 371-foot ship is part of a three-vessel series providing low-carbon fuel services in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The third vessel is expected late this year. July 2024 The Canadian Coast Guard’s new Polar Class 6 offshore science vessel, CCGS Naalak Nappaaluk, began sea trials in British Columbia. The…

North Wind: A jack-of-all-trades, multi- mission research vessel for a remote swath of the California coast

20252 Ship of the Year: North Wind Faced with the decision of refitting their old research vessel or starting from scratch, the stars aligned for a California state university in early 2022. “It was just good timing,” said Eric Riggs, the dean of the College of Natural Resources & Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. “With our designation as the third…

Golden Gate gives pilots comfort, safety and clean-burning fuel efficiency

GOLDEN GATE With their three-decade-old pilot boat Golden Gate nearing retirement, the San Francisco Bar Pilots set out to design a new multipurpose vessel focused on three priorities: reducing sound and vibration for maximum pilot comfort, optimizing the speed-to-fuel-burn ratio and putting safety above all else. Delivered in 2023, the new PV Golden Gate achieved several firsts for U.S. pilot boats:…

New University of Wisconsin-Superior research vessel replaces old tugboat with state-of-the art catamaran

SADIE ANN With the dream of educating students and immersing people into the unique environment of one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world, the University of Wisconsin-Superior started conceiving a new vessel about three years ago. The goal was to build a fast, efficient and clean floating classroom, mobile research lab and all-around passenger vessel — a boat not just…

A refined repeat of a reliable CTV

WINDEA RELIANCE As the fleet of purpose-built vessels for East Coast wind farms continues to grow, the latest generation of crew transfer vessels (CTVs) benefits from being near carbon copies of proven designs, but with refinements drawn from real-world experience and operator feedback. In May, St. Johns Ship Building in Florida delivered WINDEA Reliance, the shipyard’s third and final vessel…

MV Karl: The newest — and final — generation of SF Bay Ferry’s diesel vessels

KARL Among the many facets that Capt. Chuck Elles enjoys about the brand-new, 138-foot, 320-passenger SF Bay Ferry Karl, the padded engine-room plates might rank highest among them. “The plates have foam underneath, so when you lift them up and set them down, they don’t bang. It’s just little things like that,” the veteran captain said with delight. It’s that…

Old Dominion delivers power and precision in Virginia’s harbors

OLD DOMINION A high-speed pilot boat designed to operate in a harbor environment has been delivered to the Virginia Pilot Association. Old Dominion measures 58 feet overall, with an 18-foot beam and a 4-foot draft. It is powered by twin Volvo Penta D13-800 EPA Tier 3 certified diesel engines, each producing 800 hp at 2,300 rpm. The vessel’s top speed…

Solar vessel seeks to make change on Delaware River

FIREFLY When Firefly quietly glides through the waters of the Delaware in early 2026 without the familiar roar of internal combustion, it will be the first lithium-iron-phosphate-powered boat in its class to receive Coast Guard approval for passenger use. Everything about the 49-foot aluminum catamaran is designed to be energy efficient. Firefly captures power using bifacial solar panels to draw…

Louisiana builder launches its second offshore wind service vessel

ECO LIBERTY A new U.S. Jones Act-compliant service operations vehicle built to support the offshore wind industry will sail to New York this summer to support a $5 billion offshore wind project, with similar vessels said to be in the works. ECO Liberty, a 262-foot hybrid vessel, will initially support the marine construction of Empire Wind I, the first phase…

SHIPS

Crowley makes LNG news in the Caribbean Crowley has recently added a number of liquefied natural gas-fueled vessels to its Caribbean and Central American routes and retrofitted the first U.S.-flagged LNG carrier with service to Puerto Rico. In April, Crowley’s 560-foot, 1,400-TEU containership Quetzal began its inaugural commercial voyage, marking the first of the company’s Avance-class, LNG-powered vessels. In May, Copán…