VESSEL REVIEW | Prince Jacques – New response boat for Monaco Fire Brigade
Italian boatbuilder High Tech Marine recently handed over a new firefighting vessel to the Monaco Fire Brigade. The vessel has been named Prince Jacques in honour of the heir apparent to the Monegasque throne – the name having been chosen by his father, the country’s monarch Prince Albert II himself.
Fast and versatile platform
The new firefighting boat was constructed and delivered in fulfilment of an international tender issued in 2021. It has an LOA of 13.2 metres (43.3 feet), a beam of 4.55 metres (14.9 feet), a draught of only 0.7 metre (2.3 feet), and a displacement of approximately 14 tonnes.
The vessel was designed to ensure quick effective response to a broad range of maritime emergencies. The crew can control the bow-mounted foam and water monitor from an enclosed wheelhouse that also has space for accommodating rescued survivors. Eight seats are installed in the wheelhouse.
The firefighting equipment also includes a Cristanini drilling extinguisher that can be used to cut through hard surfaces such as steel, glass, and concrete.
Two joystick-controlled FPT Industrial N67 500 engines that each produce 410 kW (550 hp) propel the boat to a top speed of 33 knots at full load, though a speed of 36 knots can be reached when at medium load. FPT Industrial also supplied an N40 250E variable-speed auxiliary motor for use with the installed firefighting pump, which has a discharge rate of 5,000 litres (1,100 gallons) per minute. A 6kW generator is also fitted.
Capable of day/night operation
The engines are fed by two 450-litre (99-gallon) tanks while the pump motor is supplied by its own 200-litre (44-gallon) tank. A 400-litre (88-gallon) foam tank is connected to the monitor.
A Smartgyro stabilisation system is installed to counteract listing while a hydraulic stern platform that can also be controlled from the wheelhouse will be used for water rescues. The onboard electronics include an iSmart infrared camera with 30x zoom, a GPS, a radar and two VHF radios from Lowrance, an electronic anchor, and a plotter.
