FastShip Selects Philadelphia Gear Corp.

FastShip Inc. has reached an agreement with Philadephia Gear Corp. to supply sophisticated transmission equipment for the company's revolutionary high-speed trans-Atlantic fleet. The $35 million order is the largest in Philadelphia Gear's 100-year history. Under the agreement, the company will supply 20 gearboxes - five in each of FastShip's initial four vessels - plus one spare gearbox and additional parts, as well as a 10-year service and maintenance package. The gears will help generate power for the vessels equivalent to 2.5 times that of a jumbo jet. The contract means 100 jobs for Philadelphia Gear and its vendors, including securing or adding 70 full-time jobs over the next two years. These are among the 7,500-8,000 new jobs that will be created by FastShip, according to a study by PriceWaterhouse Coopers, LLP. The gearboxes supplied by Philadelphia Gear will link the five Rolls-Royce marine Trent engines to the Kamewa waterjets. The revolutionary system delivers a total of 250 megawatts, or 335,000 hp. This propulsion package will enable the 860 ft. vessels to make the passage from Philadelphia to Cherbourg in fewer than four days, sustaining speeds of up to 40 knots.