VESSEL REVIEW | Police Scotland’s newest boat features fully recyclable construction

UK company ExoTechnologies, through its Glasgow-based vessel building arm Ultimate Boats, has delivered a new boat to Police Scotland for use by the latter's Dive and Marine Unit.

The vessel is notable for being the first in a series of boats constructed using ExoTechnologies' patented DANU material, a new, fully recyclable composite that was designed to serve as a cost-equal yet more durable potential replacement for FRP and carbon fibre. The material was developed to help address the problem of FRP disposal, which ExoTechnologies said results in considerable quantities of the material being dumped in landfills across Europe each year.

Fitted with the latest technology and design features, the boat will enhance Police Scotland's response to incidents in the water such as missing person searches, event patrols, body recovery, and intelligence-led searches as part of investigations.

Police Scotland was approached by Ultimate Boats in July 2020 with an opportunity to co-design a purpose built boat that would be offered on a research and development cost-free loan for operational use. The operational period will last three years with an agreement in place to cover the cost of insurance, maintenance, and servicing.

The new police boat has a top speed of 50 knots and an operating range of 400 nautical miles. Key features of the boat include a fully covered seating area to improve crew welfare and provide weather protection, improved radar technology to assist in dive missions focused on locating missing persons, and a hull design that allows the boat to move quicker and more efficiently in the water, creating more stable movement with less slamming impact and improved fuel savings.

As with all vessels in the Ultimate Boats range, the hull design of Police Scotland's newest boat was developed by naval architect and fast craft specialist John Moxham. The design endows the boat with exceptional directional stability, making it an ideal platform for missions that call for high operating speeds.

Moxham's patented hull design helps generate hydraulic lift and produces better quality waterflow across the propellers, increasing grip that in turn ensures tighter turning with minimal loss of speed. The boat also has a substantially lower angle of attack compared to conventional hulls, allowing for operation in rough seas while still providing greater comfort for the occupants.

The electronics suite includes a Raymarine radar and a Teledyne FLIR rotating thermal camera mounted on the wheelhouse roof.

Police Scotland's Dive and Marine Unit worked closely with ExoTechnologies to develop the boat and contribute to the design and specification to ensure it was fit for operational purposes.

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