Rolls-Royce to supply power and propulsion to New York’s newest and largest high-speed luxury ferry

Rolls-Royce to supply power and propulsion to New York’s newest and largest high-speed luxury ferry14567890

DERBY, 25-Oct-2016 — /EuropaWire/ — Rolls-Royce has won a contract to supply power and propulsion to New York’s newest and largest high-speed luxury ferry.

The catamaran, operated by New Jersey based Seastreak, will carry up to 600 passengers between Monmouth County, New Jersey and Wall Street in less than 40 minutes at a top speed of 35 knots.

Power comes from four high-speed MTU diesel engines type 12V 4000 M64 from Rolls-Royce. The engines will be EPA Tier III compliant and offer the lowest emissions on the market. The four engines will drive four Rolls-Royce Kamewa 63S4 waterjets, providing both reliability and redundancy.

This new vessel, together with improvements to three Seastreak-class vessels, will require the investment of more than $24 million dollars.

Seastreak’s President, James A. Barker, said: “These investments reflect our continuing commitment to our customers, and ensures that they will enjoy a modern, reliable and comfortable ferry fleet for many years to come.”

Tor-Gunnar Hovig, Rolls-Royce, Senior Vice President Offshore & Merchant Solutions North America, said: “The combination of Rolls-Royce Kamewa waterjets and MTU high-speed diesel engines will help Seastreak transport thousands of customers every day economically, reliably and sustainably. We’re delighted that Seastreak has not only selected Rolls-Roycetechnology for their newest vessel but also to repower three of their existing fleet.”

The new ferry will include the latest in luxury seating, panoramic windows, beautiful interior design featuring all-LED lighting, flat screen TVs viewable from any seat, multiple dedicated charging stations, Wi-Fi, and high-tech HVAC systems.

The passenger seating arrangement will consist of 520 interior seats with an additional 206 exterior seats located on the second and third deck.

To be known as the Commodore class, the craft is being designed by Incat-Crowther of Sydney, Australia, and will be built at Gulf Craft, La. It is expected to be delivered in 2017. When delivered it will be the highest passenger capacity USCG K-class high-speed ferry in the United States.

In addition, three Seastreak class vessels (Highlands, New York and New Jersey) will be upgraded and repowered with Rolls-Royce equipment over the next several years. This will start with the Seastreak New York this winter. Seastreak plans to upgrade and repower one vessel per year each winter.

All three vessels will be refitted with modern Tier 3 MTU 16V 4000 M64 engines drivingRolls-Royce waterjets. This new engine and jet configuration will not only be cleaner burning, and better for the environment, but will also remove approximately 20 tons of weight, helping greatly with speed, and efficiency.

The upgrades will also involve new custom seating, windows, and carpeting, as well as other mechanical upgrades.

About Rolls-Royce Holdings plc

1. Rolls-Royce’s vision is to be the market-leader in high performance power systems where our engineering expertise, global reach and deep industry knowledge deliver outstanding customer relationships and solutions. We operate across five businesses: Civil Aerospace, Defence Aerospace, Marine, Nuclear and Power Systems.
2. Rolls-Royce has customers in more than 120 countries, comprising more than 400 airlines and leasing customers, 160 armed forces, 4,000 marine customers including 70 navies, and more than 5,000 power and nuclear customers.
3. We have three common themes across all our businesses:
   • Investing in and developing engineering excellence
   • Driving a manufacturing and supply chain transformation which will embed operational excellence in lean, lower-cost facilities and processes
   • Leveraging our installed base, product knowledge and engineering capabilities to provide customers with outstanding service through which we can capture aftermarket value long into the future.
4. Annual underlying revenue was £13.4 billion in 2015, around half of which came from the provision of aftermarket services. The firm and announced order book stood at £76.4 billion at the end of 2015.
5. In 2015, Rolls-Royce invested £1.2 billion on research and development. We also support a global network of 31 University Technology Centres, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research.
6. Rolls-Royce employs over 50,000 people in more than 46 countries. Nearly 15,700 of these are engineers.
7. The Group has a strong commitment to apprentice and graduate recruitment and to further developing employee skills. In 2015 we employed 228 graduates and 277 apprentices through our worldwide training programmes.

About Seastreak
New Jersey based Seastreak is the premier fast passenger ferry service in the New York metropolitan area. We proudly offer highspeed catamaran ferry services to points in Manhattan, Central New Jersey, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and more with a fleet of robust vessels. In addition to commuter services to and from Manhattan and New Jersey, Seastreak offers an array of entertaining cruises and tours, daytrips, and getaways year round. Seastreak also operates seasonal ferry services between New Bedford, Massachusetts, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.

MEDIA CONTACT

Richard Wray
DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
Tel: +44 (0)2072279163
Mobile: +44 (0)7974918416

Sarah Roberts
EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
Mobile: +44 (0)7968906469

SOURCE: Rolls-Royce plc