Tour Operators Trust Scania Engines for Reliability and Fuel Efficiency
Commercial vessel operators, whether tour operations or offshore crew delivery companies, are constantly looking to get more out of their vessels – more speed, better reliability, greater fuel economy. It’s all about dollars and cents when your vessel has to operate in potentially harsh conditions day in and day out, so it’s vital that you reduce down time, maintenance and operating costs. A number of tour operators in the past several years, such as Phillips Cruises and Tours, have turned to proven shipyard All American Marine and Scania engines for their new builds for just those reasons.
In its most recent build, All American Marine delivered the Chugach Express to Phillips Cruises and Tours. This high-speed and long-range eco-tour vessel will operate daily in Prince William Sound and will be based out of Whittier, Alaska. Designed by Nic de Waal of Teknicraft Design in Auckland, New Zealand, the Chugach Express is an 84.5-foot long by 30.7-foot wide semi-displacement aluminum catamaran hull, representing cutting-edge maritime engineering. Its design incorporates a dynamic aluminum hydrofoil, enhancing speed and stability at high speeds. Equipped with a propulsion package comprising of MJP 350X Waterjets, powered by quad Scania DI16 082M engines rated at 800 mhp, the Chugach Express ensures optimal performance and reliability.
“We chose Scania engines for this vessel primarily due to their exceptional power density and proven reliability, which meet our high standards for performance and durability,” said Ron Wille, President & COO of All American Marine. “Additionally, Scania's impressive intermittent service rating (IFN) for these engines allows unlimited operating hours per year, in this application. This provides us with the confidence that this vessel will operate efficiently and effectively in all conditions and provides Phillips Cruises with the best engines and support to achieve their mission objective.”
Past examples of vessels that were built by All American Marine with Scania engines include the state-of-the-art research vessel, IMUA for the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, on behalf of the Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB); and sisterships Skana and Spirit of Matushka, both 150-passenger tour vessels for Major Marine Tours.
“Our engineers have put producing the highest power output with the greatest fuel economy and lowest emissions as a top priority in the design of our DI16 engines,” said Art Schuchert, Sales and Marketing Director for Scania USA. “The result is a compact platform that delivers incredible efficiency. We are grateful for the trust from partners like All American Marine and customers like Phillips Cruises and Tours and are confident that they will be pleased with the performance of their engines.”
For more information on the full line of Scania marine engines, visit www.scaniausa.com or email [email protected].