MetalCraft Marine Inc. (MCM) has delivered its 18th NFPA Type III fireboat in 14 years.
In 2015 the Kuwait Fire Services Directorate (KFSD) ordered its first FireStorm 50', along with a 50' STLC landing craft support craft. The KFSD liked the FireStorm 50' so much, they bought two more in 2016. The KFSD has now received its fourth FS50.
The new FS-50 has the very latest in technology available for fire fighting and search and rescue. This is the first FireStorm powered by Volvo D13 1,000-hp twin diesels. It is propelled by the first Marine Jet Power 310X mixed flow waterjets installed in North America. The combination of lighter weight engines at equivalent power and warranty, coupled to lighter jets with higher jet thrust, pushed the typically heavily laden fireboat to 44.5 knots.
MetalCraft prefers to use ZF Marine gears. ZF sized the gears to match the Jet impeller size and engine speed with zero loss in efficiency at the high or low end of vessel performance. The engine room ventilation was provided by Delta ‘T’ Systems.
The fire main system (which is a MetalCraft proprietary designed system) is fully compliant with NFPA 1925 standards. The fire pump has oversized sea chest intakes that are easily cleaned from inside the vessel. The oversized long radius elbows, and oversized manifolds help to achieve pumping numbers well over-rated capacity. The twin W.S. Darley ZSM 3000 pumps achieved 7,500 gpm in sea trials. A standard fire truck pumper can pump 1,250 to 1,500 gpm.
W.S. Darley offers a three-year warranty on all of their pumps. The fire pumps supply roof and bow mounted EXM Scorpion 2,500-gpm remote controlled monitors by Elkhart Brass. The vessel is also equipped with twin Bronze Copperhead 1,250-gpm manual monitors on the aft deck.
The boat’s electronics are the latest offerings by Raymarine, the Axiom PRO Series. The boat has three 16" screens and one 8" screen in the aft helms hinged enclosure, all screens are built into the consoles. The screens can display all camera systems including stabilized FLIR M Series night vision camera, as well as provide remote drone control, WiFi access, and they can be preloaded with SAR rescue patterns. The boat also has the latest in Radio Direction Finding technology. The Rhotheta RT-500 M can not only interpret the radio hex code of a mayday call but also pinpoint the location via Doppler technology.
The boat has twin 27K BTU Dometic Cruise Stowaway Turbo Air HVAC units each capable of cooling the entire vessel cabin spaces with a back-up engine driven 36K BTU Arctic Wolf compressor, for use in the case of an AC power supply malfunction. In 120°F (50°C) you can’t do anything without air conditioning.
The generator is a Kohler 20 kW, to support multiple large electric dewatering pumps. Kohler is well supported in the Middle East. Continuous improvement in systems design are key elements at MCM.
