"Aqua Quest" Latest Sea Cat 26 Dive Boat

 

In the words of the owner (Tony Physick) “We must continue the progression with our dive boats”.

'Aqua Quest' is a great example of this progression and is the latest to join the fleet of Deep Sea Divers Den. This new model was the first built by SeaCat Ships Co Ltd in Thailand and will commence operations in Australia in June 2017, after driving from Pattaya in the Gulf of Thailand to Cairns,Australia. Tony says “She is the best yet."

Click here to see operaters Video     Click here to see Shipyard video

The Hi-Tech aluminium fabrication was completed at Ocean Marina Yacht Club (OMYC) in Thailand 'The heart of Asia' from an aluminum computer router cut kit and award winning design supplied by Sea Speed Design Co Ltd, headed by Paul Birgan and are located in OMYC. Paul has designed Tony’s past four Dive Cat’s over a 17 year period, each one getting better and better, as well as more stylish, more comfortable, more seaworthy and more economical to operate.

 

Aqua Quests home port will be Port Douglas in North East Australia and she will operate out to the Great Barrier Reef for day trips. She will cruise out to the reef at around 22-23 knots with up to 130 Scuba Divers and snorkelers and stop at two to three spots per day to experience the wonders of the reef. Catering with so many divers, snorkeler’s and reef enthusiasts is made easy with comfortable segmented seating and lounge areas with separate audio visual systems to allow for dive briefings and reef ecotourism talks. Once out to the reef the two stage hydraulic platform lowers and automatically deploys the 10man dive tender boat. First into the water are the most experienced scuba divers, then the intro scuba diver groups and scuba tour groups, then in the water are the experienced snorkelers and free divers and then finally the guided reef groups for non- strong swimmers. Access is made easy by the full width transom stairwell (9 metres wide) and the middle sections lowers hydraulically further into the water to waist deep allowing swim on and off.  The vessel has air compressor and dive banks storage below decks with scuba tank refill via aft’ central station. This one also has a nitrox system to enhance the dive experience.

 

 

A beautiful lunch is then served, accommodated by a large stainless steel servery / bar featured with polished Australian Hardwood benchtops and table tops. This galley has three door upright fridges with class doors, freezer, microwave, confection oven, and glasswasher. The main cabin is fitted with aircraft style seating with back to back layout and tables. The foredeck features a sunken lounge for use on calm conditions or when the vessel is stationary at dive sites.

The upper deck features a VIP cabin with lounge seating and a futuristic helm position with four large touch screen displays for the Simrad electronics and communications systems plus CCTV system.  Outside is the upper aft’ deck with perimeter teak slat seats and central clear area for sunbaking. There is also access to the large sunroof on the third level. She has four toilets, two on the main deck which are disable person size with hot/cold water showers and two toilets on the upper deck.

 

 

The vessel is powered by twin Yanmar mechanical marine engines and gear boxes producing 2 x 911 h.p. each.   This is hooked up to a twin disc electronic three station throttle and gear shift control unit at one end and prop/shaft arrangement with mini-keels (with wing foils) at the other. The mini-keels allow for docking on its own hull and gives protection to the running gear plus the added advantage to  great tracking and seakeeping in a sea. Electrical power is supplied by two x Zenith Gensets (50KW) which are totally independent and each able to operate the vessel completely, giving total redundancy. Also an inverter system which allows for all essential services whilst the gensets are not running.

 

The electrical system was designed, supplied, and commissioned from Australia and installed to the highest standard by the highly trained Thai staff. The enclosed cabins are fully air conditioned by custom designed salt water cooled ducted system keeping the customers cool in the tropical conditions.

 

The exterior finish is painted on the external decks and the hull up to the gunnels and the rest is vinyl wrap coating (sticker coat) with the Octopus decor’s giving a unique and unmistakable look.

All up she is “built for purpose” with long time operation in mind. The aluminium structure is comparatively heavy at the request of the owner. SeaCat Ships offered five year structural warranty and expect fifty years plus service.

 

SPECIFICATIONS

Name of Vessel:	"Aqua Quest"	Type of Vessel:	DIVE CATAMARAN TOUR/FERRY
In Survey to:	NSCV 1C	Home Port:	Cairns Australia
Owner:	Ecrolight P/l	Owner Contact:	Tony Physick
Operator	Deep Sea Divers Den	Designer Contact:	Paul Birgan
CAD Software:	MAXSURF	Builder:	Sea Cat Ships Thailand
Hull Construction	ALUMINIUM	Superstructure	ALUMINIUM
Deck Construction	ALUMINIUM	Length Overall:	26.07M
Length Waterline:	24.32M	Length rule:	23.98M
Beam:	9.00M	Draught:	1.79M
Depth:	2.60M	Displacement:	60 TONNE
Tonnage/s:	145 GRT	Main Engine/s:	2 X YANMAR 6AYM WYM WGT
(model/power)	2 x 911HP @1938RPM	Gearbox/s:	YANMAR YXH 250 1.95 ratio
Propulsion:	R & L (AUS) Veem Prop's	Maximum Speed:	26 KNOTS
Cruising Speed:	24 KNOTS @ 80% MCR		-
Generator/s:	Zenith4GB1TRD 2 of 55/60 KVA	Shaft Auxiliary Generator/s:	NIL
Side Thruster/s:	NIL	Steering System:	Hydrive/UMP
Hydraulic Equipment:	Ultimate Marine Power
Electronics Supplied By:	Ultimate Marine Power	Electronics Installed	UPS/GCS
Depth Sounder/s:	Samyung	Radio/s:	ICOM
Sonar:	-	Satcom:	-
Autopilot:	SIMRAD	Compass/es:	Ritchie
Weatherfax:	-	GMDSS:	-
GPS:	Simrad	Plotters:	Samyung
Sound System:	Fusion	Video System:	Domestic
Other Electronics:	CCTV & DVR	Electrical By:	Sonny Cairns
Electrics installed by:	Palm Electrical	Capstan/Windlass:	Lewmar V8
Tank Guages:	ITIM	Deck Equipment:	Dive Platform
Other Equipment Installed:	-	Alarm System/s:	Systems Advantage (Sea Fire)
Paints/Coatings:	Jotun interior Wrap it Marine	Windows:	Windows West AUSTRALIA
Seating:	Wave Rider Pond Cushions	Flooring/Deck Surface Finishes:	Carper Tiles NON SKID
Interior Fitout/Furnishings:	Honeycomb Walls and Ceiling	Lights:	LED
		Anchors:	1 X 130 KG SHHP
Liferaft/s:	2 x 65Man RFD	Lifeboat/s:	-
Rescue Boat/s:	10Man Barefoot	Hold Capacity:	-
Sullage Capacity:	2 x 1000 LTR	Water Ballast:	-
Fuel Capacity:	2 X 4600LTR	Fuel Consumption:	270l/hr @ 24 KN 180l/hr @ 20 KN
Freshwater Capacity:	2 x 1000 LTR	Crew:	4
Passengers:	130 DIVERS ( 200 pax+ as ferry)	Range:	1120 NM @ 20KN 2000 NM @ 10KN
Vehicles:	-	Type of operation Envisaged:	TOURIST, FERRY, DIVE BOAT
Operational Area:	COASTAL	Date of Delivery:	12 June 2017