Griffon Hoverwork to Launch New Model
Griffon Hoverwork will launch its new 995ED model at Exponaval in Valparaiso, Chile.
“Griffon is hugely excited to unveil the highly innovative 995ED which is specially designed for search and rescue, coastguard and surveying work complementing Griffon’s range of marine grade aluminium hovercraft,” said sales and marketing director Nick MacLeod-Ash. “The 995ED, at eight meters (m) length and 30 knots speed at full ‘all up weight’, is the first hovercraft to achieve certification against the UK Hovercraft Code and is perfectly suited to the demands of Chilean and South American geography and climate."
“The BHT is a much bigger hovercraft at 33m long and can carry up to 180 people or a full payload of 21 tonnes and has a maximum speed at 'all up weight' of 45 knots,” he said. “Again, this hovercraft is highly adaptable and can perform a wide variety of roles for navies and coastguards including search and rescue, oil spill response, humanitarian aid delivery and disaster relief. The BHT is deployed in these roles by the Canadian and Korean coastguards as well as being used to supply the offshore oil operations in the Caspian Sea. We see real potential to extend that to South America which has similar extremes of weather. We have seen just how challenging the South American weather, coastline and in-land waterways can be through the supply of Griffon’s extremely well tested 2000TD model in service with the Peruvian marines, which operate seven 2000TDs, and Columbian Navy which operate eight 2000TDs. In these cases, the hovercraft have shown their incredible adaptability being used on rivers and coastline on operations ranging from mud and flood rescue to countering terrorism, illegal trade and medical roles.”