A Kingston, Ont.-built boat will soon be joining others patrolling the waters off Kuwait.
MetalCraft Marine is getting ready to deliver a custom-built fireboat to the country.
Bob Clark, MetalCraft Marine’s contracts manager, says the Firecat 25M is the first of its kind.
“It’s 82 by 25 length. Does 28 knots which is about 34 miles an hour. It takes very little horsepower to do that 34 miles an hour and it weighs 182,000 pounds,” said Clark.
“It makes almost no wake. When this boat is at full speed, total wake is about two feet which is remarkable for a boat this size and weight.”
Officials from Kuwait as well as Kingston’s Economic Development Corporation got a sneak peek of the vessel today.
This is the sixth boat Kuwait has bought from the Kingston company.
“The whole development of the catamaran came about from the stability requirement of the towers that go up 45 feet above the water, and shoot huge velocity of water so each tower can shoot 5500 gallons per minute,” said Clark.
Abdul Jendi, Kingston Economic Development investment manager, says the Firecat 25M is just the latest example of the local boat building company’s innovation leading to success.
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“This would be a prime example for Kingston’s craftsmanship and the talent being built in Kingston and the product being built and being exported,” said Jendi.
Clark says the company’s success hasn’t come overnight, but the company’s perseverance is paying off.
“For years and years I wondered how long would it take to have a lineup at the door, and it took 30 years, but we have a lineup at the door,” said Clark.
The Firecat 25M, which is being billed as the next generation of high-speed fireboats, took about two and a half years to complete..
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