San Francisco Gets a New Fireboat

The 88’ San Francisco Fireboat was designed by Jensen Maritime of Seattle, with an aluminum pilot house and deck house fabricated by Kvichak Marine and attached to a steel hull at Vigor Marine.

ACS Ceramic Insulation Coating (ACS CIC) was used extensively as primary insulation throughout the boat’s interior (pilot house, deck house and hull interior). Supplementary blanket insulation was also used in the pilot house overhead and walls. Pilot house window mullions were coated with ACS CIC and then top coated with black polyurethane to prevent condensation. Using CIC on the window frames has become a standard practice on many vessels as a way to warm up these surfaces.

Another benefit of using ACS CIC was the ability to wire wheel off the dried coating and weld new equipment onto surfaces without having to worry about fire and repairs, thanks to the water-based coating’s rating as a fire retardant and an ability to easily recoat patches.

Photos below show the pilot house interior before and after it was insulated. Experience on other vessels has shown that CIC alone can be used as primary insulation on pilot house overheads.

The photos below show deck house bulkheads where brackets or stanchions were welded on after layers of CIC were applied. Hot work can be completed during application.  

This article appears courtesy of Advanced Coating Solutions of Kirkland, Washington, a provider of ceramic thermal insulation coatings.