Mavrik Marine Selects MTU Engines for New Ferry
A newly designed fast ferry that will soon go into service in the San Francisco Bay Area will reshape the commute for thousands of residents, giving them a faster option. The 300-passenger fast ferry named Dorado is being built by Mavrik Marine Inc. of La Conner, Washington, and will be powered by a pair of 2000 BHP MTU 12V4000M65R Tier 4 compliant engines provided by our marine team.
The engines are the backbone of the propulsion system. But we’re known for our systems solutions approach. That’s why we teamed with Mavrik to insure the vessel had a fully integrated system.
Complementing the MTU engines are two ZF 7600 series gearboxes, Centa torsional couplings, composite high-speed shafting and two PPG 99kW John Deere powered generator sets. Each of these components is integrated into MTU’s Callosum vessel control, monitoring and alarm system.
Unique Design
Mavrik Marine earned its reputation in the Pacific Northwest for building high quality fishing vessels, workboats and ferries. Mavrik is collaborating with One2three Naval Architects of Australia to build the aluminum catamaran ferry for WETA. The slim design and lightweight hull will create minimal drag and wake, allowing the MTU engines to push the ferry to a speed of 32 knots.
The San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority expects to take delivery of the ferry this spring. The agency has already exercised its option and ordered a second fast-ferry from Mavrik.
Centralized Monitoring
The MTU Callosum system will constantly monitor the vessels systems including propulsion, on-board power generation, bilges, tanks, electrical systems and other general vessel systems.
“We’re essentially pulling together all main engine, reduction gear and generator set control, monitoring and alarm data along with approximately 250 vessel points of data into one command center that will allow the captain and crew to operate the ferry in the most efficient and safe manner possible,” said Bill Mossey, President of PPG.
The information not only allows the system to continuously monitor the ship’s systems but implement control. The system includes trending of data and Remote Monitoring through MTU “Go Manage,” which allows for remote access to various data and alarms.
Meeting Demand
The addition of the Dorado and its sister ship are part of a continued effort by WETA to increase ferry capacity as a way to alleviate traffic on the congested highway system in the Bay Area. WETA currently operates 16 ferries with the addition of the Dorado plus two new MTU powered 445-passgner ferries; the Vela and the Lyra, which are scheduled to come online this year.
Our marine team has been involved in not only providing the propulsion and related systems for many of these new boats, but also servicing the other MTU-powered vessels already in operation in the area.