Glasgow boat builder Ultimate Boats is to unveil two new fully recyclable, high-performance workboats at the Seawork trade fair in Southampton June 13-15 (visit the Ultimate Boats stand Q88 and Seawork Berths BA24 and BA25).
The vessels, built from Ultimate Boats’ owner ExoTechnologies’ revolutionary DANUTM composite material technology, are a 7.5m Coastal C-Class and a 11.5m Tactical T-Class from the company’s range for military and police use. The T-Class vessel ‘Lightning’ will be demonstrated in strategic partnership with Hampshire Police. Both vessels are handmade and designed by Ultimate Boats internationally renowned chief designer John Moxham.
Ultimate Boats owner Shane Mugan said: “We’re very proud to be bringing these exceptional sustainable new vessels to Seawork after we launched the first fully recyclable workboat at Seawork last year. A year on we have a full order book and are seeing much scope for growth as owners search out greener forms of boat building, particularly in the offshore wind and military and law enforcement markets. DANUTM can tackle one of the biggest challenges in boat building – the use of fibreglass, which is notoriously hard to recycle. DANUTM can replace fibreglass and stop the ecological timebomb which sees thousands of boats scuttled or dumped into landfill each year. DANUTM is a circular technology and can be recycled into new boats and equipment repeatedly for generations.”
Ultimate Boats delivered its first commercial vessel to Police Scotland last year. That breakthrough deal represented the culmination of a £ 7 million investment in research and development.
“The potential of our market leading technologies is considerable,” said Mr Mugan. “We believe Ultimate Boats is capable of accelerating the green transition to a circular economy across all industries and markets. We know we are making a significant breakthrough in transforming boat building with DANUTM and ExoHullTM.
He added: “We are seeing strong interest in our range of innovative and high-performance vessels from commercial operators and naval and law enforcement agencies across Europe.”
The vessel’s John Moxham ExoHullTM design meanwhile reimagines planning hull technology and hydrodynamic performance using principles that were first conceived during the development of the XB-70 Valkyrie supersonic bomber.
The ExoHullTM design allows the boat to move quicker and more efficiently in the water, creating a more stable movement with less slamming impact reducing fuel costs and emissions.
“We are actively looking at technology now to create autonomous and electric propelled versions of our range to make the complete sustainable vessel,” he said.
Ultimate Boats employs more than 30 people and its Police Scotland boat was named Patrol Boat of the Year at the recent Work Boat World Awards. The company was also a finalist in the innovation category at the recent Maritime UK Awards in Hull attended by HRH the Princess Royal.
Coastal C-Class specification:
Overall Length7.5 Metres Overall Beam 2.6 Metres Internal Beam 1.9 Metres Draft 0.5 Metres Deadrise 25o Weight 2,600 KG Integrated Fuel Capacity 500 Litres Deck Space 8.7 M2 Payload 1,120 KG Seating 4 Shock Mitigation Units PowerUp to 300 HP Propulsion Outboard Inboard Range 335 NM @ 28 KT
Tactical T-Class background
Overall Length: 11 Metres Other Specifications: CLASSIFIED Our high-performance Tactical (T-Class) vessels are restricted for use by military, law enforcement, special forces, and governmental clients.
DANUTM background
DANUTM is the breakthrough composite material of exceptional strength capable of being recovered, re-cycled and re-used repeatedly. Its superior mechanical properties over fibreglass results in improved weight efficiency.
This pioneering resource efficiency technology creates a pathway capable of accelerating the green transition to circularity for composite material used in maritime craft, ballistic resistance, wind turbine blades, automotive solutions, aircraft construction, food processing etc…
Moreover, its cost is comparable with traditional materials, and no additional manufacturing or labour costs are required. As well as attracting attention from the maritime industry, DANUTM is drawing interest from other industries, including renewables, transportation, defence, law enforcement, construction and automotive.
So far, the development team, has already produced a full-scoped maritime craft solution and ballistic resistant solution ready for scalable production to commercialise this novel technology.
Fibreglass disposal problem
The growing problem of fibreglass disposal goes far beyond the boatbuilding industry and has global implications. According to the “2020 State-of-the-Industry Report,” published in Composites Manufacturing Magazine, fibreglass demand is expected to climb to 1.36 billion kilos by 2025. Fibreglass accounts for well over 90 per cent of reinforced plastics / composites production, with two-thirds destined for the transport and construction industries, followed by sporting/leisure goods and the electric/electronics industry, each with approximately 15 per cent of market share.