Coast guard buys Rolls-Royce jets

The Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard has placed an order with Rolls-Royce for water jets for its six new fast patrol craft. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Two Kamewa size 56 water jets will be fitted onto each 30m vessel to enable speeds up to 40 knots. The patrol craft will be used for targeting illegal drug trafficking, safety at sea, and search and rescue missions.

Rolls-Royce’s water jets use mixed-flow pump technology, which it claims allows it to deliver between five to 10 per cent higher efficiency than competing aluminium axial flow water jets.

The six vessels, which can each carry a 12-man crew, will be built at Austal Ships’ Henderson site in Western Australia. Delivery of the craft is expected in early 2010.