After seeing images of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Italian Coast Guard practicing at sea in very high waves, today we take you on board with this video from the U.S. Coast Guard to understand or at least imagine what it means.
An extreme motor boat for extreme conditions
The motorboat in the photos is the U.S. Coast Guard’s 47-foot MLB, successor to the historic 44′ MLB. This is the standard lookout provided in the U.S., an extreme boat designed to act in extreme conditions such as those that can occur overseas.
What the 47-foot MLB can withstand:
- Hurricane-force winds of up to 60 knots
- breakers up to 6 meters
- to strong impacts
- to capsizing, in fact in case of a “capsize” this boat returns straight in less than 10 seconds without damage
Photos by Dave Rogers
To succeed in this, the hull is designed with a deep “V” line and is constructed entirely of aluminum. Thanks to these features, combined with the pair of 435 horsepower engines, the 47-foot MLB is capable of developing up to 25 knots of top speed with 22 knots of cruising speed. Up to 30 people can be taken on board in addition to the 4 crew.
To control the hull in all conditions and situations, there are also four different steering stations: two in the enclosed deck and two outdoors.
Technical feature
- Displacement: 18 t
- Length: 14.6 m
- Beam: 4.27 m
- Draft: 1.37 m
- Propulsion: 2 × Diesel 435 hp (324 kW)
- Fuel Capacity: 1,500 liter Speed:
- Max. speed: 25 knots
- Cruise speed: 22 knots
- Range: 200 nmi (370 km) cruising
- Passenger: 34 persons, 4 crew, 30 passengers
