MetalCraft Marine wins 2022 Significant Boat of the year award

Last month, a MetalCraft Marine (MCM) build was one of 10 boats nominated for the Most Significant Boat of the Year by Workboat Magazine. On Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, MetalCraft Marine’s FireCat 25M was recognized with the 2022 honour.

According to a release from MCM, the FireCat 25M is the first catamaran fireboat ever built. Constructed for Kuwait Fire Services and christened the Monjeb 2, the project was conceived in 2015 by the Director of Fire Force.

MCM collaborated with Walker Marine on the design with some specific requirements in mind, the company said. The boat needed hulls that were big enough to house large diesels and firefighting equipment, and towers that were tall enough to reach the decks of huge oil carriers that travel through Kuwait Ports. MCM also noted that the catamaran design needed a low center of gravity to support the force of 12,000 gallons of water per minute that shoot from the 45-foot water cannons, and it had to be stable enough to manage rough seas.

Manufactured primarily at the MCM site in Kingston, thousands of hours were spent constructing this innovative design and the result is the 32 MPH, 182,000lb FireCat 25M catamaran fireboat, according to the release.

Every year, Workboat magazine nominates 10 significant boats based on a variety of criteria, including original concept builds, innovative design, and advancing new workboat frontiers like wind energy. Industry peers and the readers of Workboat Magazine are invited to vote for their favourite vessel. According to the release, the award is considered one of the most prestigious in the workboat industry. This year MCM was a standout and received 50 per cent of the votes that were received.

“It is a great accomplishment for any team to win boat of the year and we’re extremely proud of this build,” said Bob Clark, MCM Contracts Manager. “Something like this has never been done before. Not only can the FireCat 25M replace the old-style tug fireboats for half the cost, but it can also run at twice their speed. We are revolutionizing the concept of what a fireboat is and what it can do!”

MetalCraft Marine designs and manufactures premier high-performance custom aluminum boats for government and commercial markets. In 2020 the local boatbuilders won the award for their Interceptor patrol boat that was built for the Los Angeles Port Police. Learn more about Kingston’s own MetalCraft Marine on their website.