60-seats passenger boats, want top speed of 50knots, any idea

The client wanted a passenger boat that could carry 60 passengers. Transporting passengers to and from the island. The customer hopes to reach a speed of 50 knots when fully loaded with 60 passengers. The customer hopes to have two toilets on the boat and a fuel tank capacity of 1000-1200L. Use inboard diesel engine. Any ideas?

 

Sounds like a hydrofoiling catamaran may work.
Have you looked at what New Zealand is running for ferries in that range?

 

How far offshore is this island? Or what is the total distance that the passengers have to be transported?
What are the typical sea conditions like there?
50 knots is awfully fast for a commercial passenger ferry, and a fuel tank capacity of 1,000 litres is rather small when feeding two large diesel engines.

Re @BlueBell suggestion, have a look at the Teknicraft range of fast passenger catamarans -
Teknicraft Design http://teknicraft.com/work/passenger-vessels/1/34

 

client is in Maldives. Not so sure about the distance. Thanks for the website.

 

At 50 knots it will need seats with suspension and seatbelts. Otherwise, there will be injuries and deaths. Also, with something moderate like 4000HP the fuel will be enough for maybe one hour.

 

Yes. The math isn't really working. 1000 liters is unrealistically low, and the speed is dangerously high.

The water taxi I use to the jobsite had a career ending injury last year, where the cowboy at the helm didn't drive according to conditions, and a passenger ruptured some disks on a landing.

 

50 knots is very fast, although this may be possible this will end up being a massively expensive, and time consuming to design and make well, what's your budget?

 

50 knots + 60 passengers = very expensive

 

I could imagine rollercoaster-style seats that provide enough safety. But I cannot imagine going to the toilet at speed.

regards

krzys

 

Unless the toilets have seatbelts too

 

But how to get there from your seat?

OK, now seriously. The only solution I can see for now is to draw the hull entirely out of the water and not to allow it to ever touch a wave.
So, a hydrofoil with deep T-foils, having automatically adjusted elevators and ailerons. Surface sensors, wave-detecting radars and cameras, and an AI system similar to those used in autonomous cars. Would be a very exciting project, but I bet much more costly than the client can imagine.

regards

krzys

 

I agree about hydrofoils. However, they have a limited operating range on wave height before the hull starts slamming. I have been onboard a foil ferry that hit a log and it was brutal. Everyone got thrown off their seats or fell on deck if standing.

 

50 knots...and only 1200l, fat chance.

 

Air-cushion vehicle? It might give a smoother ride, but I suspect it would have an even higher rate of fuel consumption.

 

While hydrofoils present an intriguing solution to many challenges, they also introduce a host of their own issues. Therefore, it may be a good idea to try to get the client to accept a more reasonable speed of 30-40 knots. This approach could prevent the project from significantly exceeding its budget, as similar projects have already been successfully executed. If you can convince your client to lower their speed requirements, I would recommend considering a smaller, lighter single-deck version of the SF Bay ferry. This could potentially meet their needs while also keeping costs under control.