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Keel Laid for Revolutionary Dual-Use Catamaran Vessel, M/V Susitna

For Immediate Release: Aug 28, 2006
Arlington, Va.— On August 24, 2006, onlookers gathered at the shipyard of Alaska Ship & Drydock Inc. in Ketchikan, Alaska, to witness the keel laying of what will be a very unusual and versatile ship.

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the vessel´s sponsor, performed the honors as she welded her name onto the keel of the M/V Susitna, a twin-hulled catamaran ferry that is being funded jointly by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Alaska´s Matunuska Susitna (Mat/Su) Borough. Attendees also included ONR´s Chief of Naval Research RAdm. William E. Landay, Mat/Su Borough Mayor Tim Anderson, as well as State of Alaska and Ketchikan officials and the management team for the Susitna program.

When complete, the Susitna (which is named after a river and mountain in south central Alaska, and means "sleeping lady") will be operated by the Mat/Su Borough as a ferry between Anchorage and Port Mackenzie. ONR also is interested in the vessel´s transformational hull form as a technology demonstrator to support the Navy´s sea basing and expeditionary warfare concepts.


The ship will have a center "barge" that can be hydraulically raised and lowered; it also will have the option to adjust the buoyancy of its catamaran hulls while under way. The vessel will demonstrate the functionality of a ship that can provide a multipurpose, expeditionary cargo and troop ship that performs efficiently at high speed, in ice, and in shallow waters, and that can even beach itself to load/discharge vehicles up to tank size.

The vessel will have three distinct modes of operation: a catamaran mode for high speeds; a small-water-area-twin-hull (SWATH) mode for stability in high sea states; and a shallow-draft landing-craft mode that provides substantial buoyancy for maneuvering in shallow water. In addition, the Susitna will be the world´s first ice-breaking twin-hulled vessel.


Vessel Characteristics:


· Length -195 Feet, Beam – 60 feet

· Displacement: 940 tons full load

· Variable Draft - SWATH mode is 12± feet, shallow-draft landing-craft mode is 4± feet.

· Capacity: 100 Passengers and 20 vehicles.

· Speed: 20 knots

· Power Plant: 4 ea., MTU 12V 4000 diesel engines

The Susitna project is a collaboration between the Office of Naval Research, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, and Alaska Ship & Drydock. It is funded through the Office of Naval Research´s Sea Warfare and Weapons Department, Code 33X (Paul Rispin, program manager).

About the Office of Naval Research

The Department of the Navy’s Office of Naval Research provides the science and technology necessary to maintain the Navy and Marine Corps’ technological advantage. Through its affiliates, ONR is a leader in science and technology with engagement in 50 states, 55 countries, 634 institutions of higher learning and nonprofit institutions, and more than 960 industry partners. ONR, through its commands, including headquarters, ONR Global and the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., employs more than 3,800 people, comprising uniformed, civilian and contract personnel.