On the Waterfront
Hybrid ferry will tour Statue of Liberty
Kathy Bergren Smith
September 20, 2011
If
Sarah Palin had waited another year to take her family on a tour of the Statue
of Liberty, she could have had an excellent photo op on a newly retrofitted
hybrid ferry.
The
600-passenger New York Hornblower Hybrid
is nearly complete at the beleaguered Derecktor Shipyards in Bridgeport, Conn. The yard suspended operations early this month, and the ferry’s
owner, Hornblower Cruises and Events,
is finishing the vessel at the shipyard with about 20 former Derecktor workers.
This
is a cool boat — a retrofitted casino boat powered by multiple fuel sources. It
will have solar panels, wind turbines and hydrogen fuel cells that will power
192 batteries to supply ship’s service power and propulsion to two electric
engines.
But
what is really the most interesting aspect of the boat, according to Hornblower
spokesman Tegan Firth, is the integrated power management system. “It will allow to the
captain to switch between the electric and diesel systems from the wheelhouse.”
Hornblower
has worked closely with the Coast Guard throughout the building process on the
multiple innovative systems, constantly breaking new ground. The company also
operates a smaller hybrid ferry in San Francisco Bay, built in 2008, but this
one is going to be worth a trip to New York.
I
wonder if it will be quiet?
Learn more about the New York Hornblower Hybrid technology in the following video:
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Author Bio
Kathy Bergren Smith
Kathy Bergren Smith has been a correspondent with WorkBoat since 2002. She is also a writer and photographer for the Port of Baltimore Magazine covering shipping and port activities. Smith, also a noted commercial and fine art photographer, resides in Annapolis, Md.
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