Riding o'er the waves: New British-designed hovercraft goes into service in Alaska. Inc. - Innovative Uses of Horsepower - Griffon Hovercraft - BP Exploration Alaska

Diesel Progress North American Edition, Dec, 2003 by Mark T. Clevenger

The first Griffon Hovercraft to be built in the U.S. under license is now carrying people, supplies and machinery to BP Petroleum's oil production facility on North Island, six miles from Prudhoe Bay, in Alaska's Beaufort Sea. The Griffon 2000 TD hovercraft is servicing offshore operations by BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.

Powered by a Deutz BF8L513LC air-cooled diesel engine, the hovercraft was ordered by Crowley Alaska Inc., to run from the mainland of Alaska to the BP facility over land, mud flats, sea and ice. The vessel, dubbed the Arctic Hawk, was built under license by Kvichak Marine Industries Inc., in Seattle.

With the Arctic Hawk as the first entry into the U.S. market, meeting requirements of the Jones Act, the British company established Griffon Hovercraft USA, with George Scarveles as managing director. Griffon Hovercraft USA is headquartered in Connecticut. Scarveles said that a number of new projects are pending.

Griffon Hovercraft USA is the exclusive agent of Griffon Hovercraft Limited (GHL), Southhampton, Great Britain. The parent company was formed in 1976 with the mission of designing and manufacturing simple and cost effective hovercraft. GHL was said to be the first company to utilize diesel engines in small- to medium-sized hovercraft. Other innovations include ducted propellers, skirt shift control systems and lower noise levels.

GHL develops both standard hovercroft and specific vehicles to meet such customer requirements as crop spraying, reed harvesting and such mixed environment vessels as the Arctic Hawk. Griffon hovercraft are available standard in a variety of sizes, ranging from 21.5 x 11.5 ft to 69 x 36 ft., 4 to 80 passengers and speeds from 25 to 40 knots. Engine options include Land Rover, VW, Deutz and MTU. The vessels are fully amphibious, operating efficiently over water, land, sandbanks, mudflats, weedy patches, ice, rocks and rapids. The Arctic Hawks is 41.9 ft. long with a beam of 15 ft. and it will carry 18 to 25 passengers at speeds up to 35 knots.

The project that resulted in the Arctic Hawk started with BP Exploration which has utilized several different types of vessels to service Northstar Island, a man-made gravel island. Crowley teamed with Griffon to propose a 21-seat Griffon 2000 TDX hovercraft. After surveying several Pacific Northwest shipyards, the team chose Kvichak to build the craft under license.

The Arctic Hawk will carry a maximum disposable load of 5952 lb. over a variety, of surfaces in temperatures down to -40[degrees]F. John Gifford, owner of Griffon Hovercraft, led the crew that trained a crew from Crowley Alaska to operate the craft.

The BF8513LC engine is rated at 355 hp at 2100 rpm. The Deutz engine turns a ducted propeller in its own housing. The Hoffman controllable pitch, reversing propeller has wide chord blades and low tip speeds to reduce noise. The engine also has a belt drive to rotate a squirrel cage lift fan. The 2 ft. 9 in. diameter fan delivers air through two integral passages to flexible skirts which contain the air to lift the boat above water, land or any other surface. These skirts can be replaced without raising the craft.

According to the release front Kvichak, the journey from the mainland base to the island is six nautical miles and the sea is frozen for nine months during the year. Currently BP employs helicopters, crew boats, haglands, CATCO rollagons, barges and ice roads to access Northstar Island. The hovercraft is seen as having the potential for use in all seasons and potentially to replace multiple modes of transportation. The hovercraft is able to make several trips a day to the island. The Arctic Hawk will operate in waves up to 4 ft. and in service burns 11.8 gal. of fuel per hour.