New firefighting boat to serve Maryland's Anne Arundel County

Louisiana-based Metal Shark Boats has handed over the first of two response boats ordered by the Anne Arundel County Fire Department in Annapolis, Maryland.

The welded-aluminium vessel will operate across Chesapeake Bay and will be tasked with protecting over 500 miles (800 kilometres) of shoreline. It will also support neighbouring jurisdictions, since the Anne Arundel County Fire Department also provides mutual aid services with Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Calvert County, City of Annapolis, Prince Georges County, Queens Anne County on the Eastern Shore, and the United States Naval Academy.

Designed by Metal Shark’s in-house engineering team and built at the company’s Franklin, Louisiana shipyard, the new monohull fireboat measures 50 by 16 feet (15 by 4.9 metres) and features a spacious, climate-controlled wheelhouse.

Power is provided by twin inboard diesel engines driving waterjets to deliver a top speed of over 45 knots. At a more economical cruising speed of 30 knots, the boat can sail up to 250 nautical miles.

Designed for maximum firefighting capability and water pumping volume, the new vessels deliver a flow rate in excess of 8,500 gallons (32,000 litres) per minute, with twin self-priming fire pumps driven via PTO from the main engines. Each pump draws from its own dedicated in-hull sea chest, feeding a central manifold with crossover capability, which in turn supplies the entire system.