WELCOME

Speed at sea and the ability to operate in high sea states have never been more important than they are today. Higher speeds and improved performance in rough seas are increasingly specified for new ships and craft, both naval and commercial.

The U.S. Navy seeks to project power quickly into the littorals with the Littoral Combatant Ship (LCS). The Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) will provide intra-theater movement of troops and vehicles for both the U.S. Army and U.S. Marines. The Ship to Shore Connector (SSC) will replace the Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) as the heavy lifter in the littorals, moving tanks and vehicles from the ship, over the beach, and to the enemy. The USMC Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV), a combat vehicle on land, is also a 40-knot planing craft that departs from an amphibious ship to quickly deliver troops to the objective. ONR envisions that the T-Craft will be capable of long range open ocean transit (2500 nm at 20 kts), cargo transfer at the sea base in high sea states, high speed transit between the sea base and the shore (500 nm range at 40 kts), and the ability to transform to a fully amphibious vehicle—delivering material and personnel “feet dry” on the beach.The USCG is revitalizing its fleet through the Deepwater Program, adding great numbers of response boats and cutters to defend our homeland with speed and agility as well as augment U.S. Navy assets when called upon. NOAA is currently building a high performance SWATH vessel. Finally, the push to defend our arctic rights will necessitate ships that can successfully operate in high sea states in the higher latitudes. High Performance Ships and Craft are transforming our nation’s fleet like never before.

The commercial industry is quick to recognize the economic advantages of speed and high sea state performance. There are fully-feasible 30-40,000 ton ship designs that qualify as high speed high performance (HSHP) ships because of their 35-40 knot speeds and year-round, open-ocean capabilities—the Pentamaran, FastShip semi-planing monohull, and large CCDoTT trimaran concepts, for example. Commercial ferry operators have long recognized the advantage of speed in commuter ferry operations. Ferry service speeds over 40 knots have become common—some exceed 50 knots. Some new catamarans are hydrofoil-supported; some future concepts have air cushions. Not only must these ferries be fast, but they must minimize their wake to prevent shoreline damage. The offshore oil and gas industry needs to quickly reach the offshore oil rigs with supplies and personnel, and be able to maintain station when the weather turns bad. High speed RO/RO short sea shipping as an alternative to crowded highways is again being explored as oil prices continue to rise.

The technologies that have made these ships and craft possible, continue to advance rapidly. The ASNE High Performance Marine Vehicles Symposium 2009 will help researchers, designers, engineers, builders and operators increase their awareness and understanding of the advanced marine technologies, designs and programs being considered and currently underway. It is being held at the MITAGS and can be found at: http://www.mitags.org/download/documents/CCMIT-Directions.pdf.

Note that you maybe able to earn Continuous Learning points by attending this event if you are a Department of the Navy certified acquisition workforce member and have met the required Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) certification for your position, you have a biannual Continuous Learning requirement to earn 80 points. For more information on the Continuous Learning policy, go to the Department of the Navy website at: http://www.acquisition.navy.mil/rda/home/career_management/career_planning/continuous_learning

Your supervisor must approve all points. If you are eligible to earn Continuous Learning points, you may receive points by attending this event.