The following is the text of a news release from Derecktor Shipyards:
(MAMARONECK, N.Y.) — Derecktor Shipyards has launched the first hybrid vessel built for CUNY, the City University of New York’s Brooklyn College.
The 65-foot catamaran, CUNY I, is powered by a BAE diesel-electric hybrid system and has a state-of-the-art lab interior as well as cutting-edge technology at the forward helm station. Electric power is supplied by a set of lithium ion batteries, and propulsion is via articulating drives powered by two electric motors.
CUNY, in collaboration with the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay, plans to use the vessel for research of the Jamaica Bay area as well as Long Island Sound. The hybrid is extremely fuel efficient when the diesel motor is operating, and has 300 gallons of fuel capacity.
Derecktor General Manager Micah Tucker said, “We are very pleased to have built another hybrid vessel, and are excited at the possibilities of alternative energy in marine studies and transportation."
This is the second research hybrid Derecktor has built, and it incorporates a number of advances from the first successful hybrid — Spirit of the Sound, built for The Maritime Aquarium of Norwalk.
Derecktor continues to pursue projects for the construction of further hybrid vessels, and hopes to help reduce the carbon footprint of the maritime industry one vessel at a time.
