Hybrid Research Vessel to Hit the Pacific Northwest

Incat Crowther is pleased to announce that construction has commenced at Snow & Company in Seattle, Washington on a 15m hybrid catamaran research vessel for operation by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The vessel demonstrates Incat Crowther and Snow’s expertise in designing and building low emissions vessels that deliver practical solutions for their scientific mission requirements. Incat Crowther and Snow & Company are proud to support PNNL’s vision to secure a cleaner, safer future.

Incat Crowther has developed a bespoke design that offers exceptional capability for its size. The vessel’s 28m2 main deck is equipped with an A-Frame, boom crane and movable davit in addition to access to a foldable swim platform, extracting maximum functionality from the space. A set of stairs offer direct access from the main deck to the upper deck and flybridge, which affords excellent all-round visibility. The vessel can support the research of six scientists in a tailored layout containing multiple research workstations and convertible sleeping arrangements, providing PNNL a capable platform to efficiently carry out their research.

The vessel will be powered by an advanced parallel hybrid-electric propulsion system, consisting of two Volvo Penta D8-510 main engines, capable of producing 374 kW each, supplemented by two Danfoss Editron EM-PMI375-T200-2600 motor-generators. Power is stored using a state-of-the-art Spear Trident battery system, allowing the vessel to operate quietly in a zero-emission electric state while engaged in a mixture of survey operational modes.

With this vessel, PNNL joins a growing list of operators taking advantage of Incat Crowther’s history of innovation in hybrid and low emissions technologies. Our partnership with Snow and PNNL enhances the research capability of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.