VIDEO: Vigor delivers catamaran research vessel

JANUARY 3, 2017 — The Sentinel, a new research vessel commissioned last month by California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) is a state of the art replacement for the San Carlos, which has been monitoring water quality in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and upper San Francisco Estuary since 1976.

Designer Incat Crowther describes the 60 foot catamaran research vessel as “a rugged and utilitarian vessel with an efficient design optimizing the use of the catamaran platform.”

The vessel was built at shipbuilder Vigor’s specialized aluminum fabrication facility in Seattle, WA.

Sentinel’s primary application is the monitoring of water quality, phytoplankton, zooplankton and benthic macro-invertebrates within the San Francisco bay area and close proximity coastline.

“Vigor was honored to build a vessel which will play such an important role in protecting water quality. The innovative and efficient Incat Crowther design will ensure Sentinel will be on the job for decades,” said Tim Kolb, Vigor General Manager – Ballard (formerly Kvichak).

Keeping all accommodations on the main deck, Sentinel has a relatively wide beam that is utilized to create an efficient layout conducive to research and water sampling activity.

Sentinel has a large partially-covered aft deck with two deck cranes and two deck winches in addition to stair access to swim platforms port and starboard. The main deck cabin houses a large laboratory, forward of which are two twin cabins, a bathroom and galley. Forward of this is the wheelhouse with an additional fold-down berth.

A set of stairs leads from the foredeck to the roof deck, featuring aft control station as well as a rescue boat and dedicated launch and retrieval crane.
The vessel has a service speed of 18 knots with two Cummins QSB 6.7 main engines producing 260 kW each.

Length Overall 60′ / 18.3 m
Length Waterline 56′ 2″ / 17.1 m
Beam Overall 24′ / 7.3 m
Draft (hull) 3′ / 0.9 m
Draft (prop or max) 3′ 7″ / 1.1 m
Depth 7′ 9″ / 2.35 m

Passengers 20
Crew 5

PROPULSION AND PERFORMANCE

Speed (Service) 18 knots
Speed (Max) 21 knots
Main Engines 2 x Cummins QSB6.7
Power 2 x 350 hp / 260 kW @ 2800 rpm
Propulsion 2 x Propellers
Generators 2 x Northern Lights M864W3