Peterson Builders Heads Development Of New Urban Commuter Ferry

Peterson Builders, Inc. of Wisconsin was chosen to receive funding under the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)-sponsored program of research and development in the Maritech Near-Term Technology Applications program to develop the City Slicker highspeed urban ferry. The new ferry design will be developed in conjunction with PBI's consortium partners Spirit Cruises of Norfolk, Va., and FBM Holdings of Cowes, Isle of Wight, U.K.

PBI, Spirit and FBM will develop a new technology high-speed ferry for urban commuter application in protected and semi-protected waters. The new ferry design will have low wake wash characteristics, which will reduce wake-induced shoreline erosion on its route. PBI is licensed by FBM to market and construct its complete line of high-speed ferries in the U.S. The new urban ferry design, City Slicker, will not only include performance improvements to support environmentally friendly introduction into its service routes, but will also allow PBI to employ series production manufacturing. The series production technology and resulting process improvements will significantly improve PBI's ability to compete in both the international and domestic markets.

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