Maritime Applied Physics developing hydrofoil to go from Baltimore

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Feb 10, 2006 by Karen Buckelew

Mark Rice dreams of traveling to Ocean City without getting stuck in Bay Bridge traffic. He dreams of taking day trips to Kent County's historic small towns without hours of driving. And he dreams of bringing Baltimore within a half-hour ride of Eastern Shore residents.Rice, president of Baltimore-based Maritime Applied Physics Corp., is working hard to make his dreams a reality.

But that reality is something right out of science fiction. He's developing a flying boat that would cut the Baltimore-to-Eastern Shore commute from 80 miles to just 18 miles.Maritime Applied Physics is attempting to transfer to commercial use the hydrofoil technology it employs in its military watercraft projects - high- speed, hovercraft-style boats that can go up to 68 miles per hour and handle up to 12-foot waves without jostling passengers.The company's vision is an 80-passenger high-speed ferry traveling from the Port of Baltimore to Rock Hall in Kent County, tooling across the Chesapeake Bay at about 50 miles per hour, its passengers lounging in leather seats, sipping coffee from an on-board cafe and tapping away at their laptops thanks to wireless Internet access.Located in the Brooklyn section of South Baltimore City, Maritime Applied has been using its design and engineering capabilities to do work for the military and for private companies such as Hyundai Heavy Industries and Potomac Electric Power Co.But Rice's plan is to create a subsidiary of the firm to build passenger hydrofoils for sale - at $2 million each - to prospective ferry operators throughout the United States.For starters, he's looking for investors to help the company launch a two-vessel ferry service running from Baltimore to Rock Hall by 2007 - that would require $4.8 million to finance construction of the crafts and $3 million for operations.The venture would benefit from decades-old federal legislation that requires all U.S. passenger vessels to be built in the United States. The only major hydrofoil builders are located in Russia and Italy, according to Rice.Hydrofoils function like airplanes, with aluminum hulls and steel underwater wings.As the hull moves through the air, he said, it turns the drag into lift, propelling it above the water.Because of design, hydrofoils require less power and use less fuel, reducing cost. It wouldn't be the first ferry to cross the Chesapeake Bay. Kent County has a rich history of ferry traffic from Baltimore, from the old passenger ferries that for more than 80 years carried tourists to a long- defunct amusement park near Chestertown beginning in the 1800s to a previous failed attempt at a high-speed ferry in the early 1990s.But Maritime Applied's would be the first ferry that could withstand the worst the bay has to offer, such as debris in its water that can pierce the hulls of passing crafts.That floating detritus - from telephone poles to tree trunks to just about anything imaginable - contributed to the closing of the Chesapeake Flyer in the early 1990s. That high-speed ferry shut down temporarily just days after its launch in July 1990 after striking an unmarked buoy, and in August of that year, it closed again when it hit an unknown object, according to published reports at the time. The service docked for good in 1994.Maritime Applied Physics' ferry is far less vulnerable, according to the company.They are surprisingly robust, said Mike Perschbacker, the company's vice president and senior aeronautical and ocean engineer. When the hydrofoils do strike something, the damage is surprisingly minor.With an $18,500 grant from the Maryland Industrial Partnerships program at the University of Maryland, College Park, the company has been working with Jewel Barlow, director of the engineering school's Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel.Barlow and Rice's team have been using the wind tunnel's capabilities to design the strongest and most aerodynamic hull possible to keep fuel costs down.Martha J. Connolly, director of the MIPS program, said Maritime Applied Physics was selected for the grant - which goes to the university researcher, and was matched by $29,300 in company dollars to fund the project - because of the concept's promise.This was not just pie in the sky, Connolly said. It was very well researched.Rice's plan isn't based on commuter traffic - which was the business plan for the Chesapeake Flyer - but to provide to Eastern Shore residents a more convenient trip to Baltimore for shopping or dining, or even to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.And for Baltimore residents, he said, the ferry would cut to just a fraction of its current length the trip to Ocean City or to Chestertown in Kent County or to any of the Eastern Shore's small towns.Now what?The problem, however, is the lack of transportation once the boat docks in Rock Hall. The company has considered options including a Zipcar service to allow passengers to rent a car for just a few hours, Rice said.P.A.M. Schaller, the just-retired former director of the Kent County Economic Development Office, said the county would benefit from the tourism, and methods of shuttling the passengers around once they disembark could be worked out.The ferry would provide Eastern Shore citizens with easy access to Baltimore museums, ball games, shopping and cultural events, said Schaller, whose vacant position in economic development has yet to be filled. Rock Hall - would benefit because it would be the Eastern Shore [terminus] for this ferry - all of the commercial establishments in Rock Hall would benefit from the daily increase in visitors.Greater Baltimore Committee President Donald C. Fry said the ferry idea is intriguing, though not necessarily an alternative to a third Bay Bridge span, as Schaller asserted.The concept of finding ways to have visitors come from the Eastern Shore to Baltimore and vice versa is certainly a very worthwhile discussion and an opportunity to explore, Fry said. We're always looking for ways to have more access to and open up new markets.Especially because the technology involved partnerships with the University of Maryland, he added, city leaders would be open to the idea.It's certainly something that would be interesting to hear more about, Fry said. Any time people come up with new, imaginative ideas, or look at addressing challenges in a different way, it's meritorious to look at.Schaller agreed that at least a test of the project is worth a shot, even if the concept of a ferry to Kent County has failed in the past.At this point I don't know if enough people will use the ferry to make it prosperous, she said, but much practical knowledge will be gained from the trial run and can be applied to other small harbors.The project has a long way to go, Rice said. Though the company is talking to investors, none have signed on, and formal talks with Baltimore officials have not yet taken place.Not to mention the stumbling block of Coast Guard approval, which would have to be earned before the ferries hit the water.But Rice, armed with PowerPoint presentations and pages of research as he pitches his idea, said he can be patient.We have to walk before we run, he said.