Being a retired professional marine engineer who enjoyed my 9 years of service in the British Merchant Navy and still working now within the global marine industry, I just love everything about big ships. So, about a month ago, I downloaded from the YESTERDAY TV channel, a series of programmes titled IMPOSSIBLE ENGINEERING. Information can be found here.
I was pleasantly surprised at how many of the featured structures were ships, rigs and other floating structures, with a lot of them appearing to benefit from having SOLASAFE sunscreens installed at their navigation bridge windows.
The program about the series of 12 Expeditionary Fast Transport vessels that Austal USA is delivering under a contract with the U.S. navy was particularly interesting. I knew Solar Solve was supplying ships-sets of roller sunscreens for these vessels around the time each one was being handed over and that they were pretty revolutionary but that was about it.
Although we have been supplying roller sunscreens to the U.S. navy for their LCV’s, for a decade or more, it was only when I was watching the TV programme that I found out where the name came from. The USA developed their LCV’s (Littoral Combat Vessels or ships), so that they could get very close to shore lines that are often shallow (called the littoral zone of the shoreline or coastline) and inaccessible to conventional vessels with a propeller below the bottom of its hull.
The program went into lots of detail about all of the problems that had to be overcome and how they did it. These vessels are truly amazing and we are extremely proud to be playing a very small part but hopefully a significant one, in contributing to their safe and effective operation.
Solar Solve has just issued a press release with more information about this contract and it can be found here.
Videos of the vessel being delivered can be found below…
The first Joint High Speed Vessel was USNS SPEARHEAD (JHSV-1), delivered in 2013 and Solar Solve sent out a consignment of 38 SOLASAFE roller sunscreens for installation at the ships navigation bridge windows in May of that year…
If you are interested in Solar Solve’s products you can read more information about our Type Approved sunscreens, Anti-Glare blinds or marine screens, by typing what you are looking for into this website’s search box.
John Lightfoot MBE, Solar Solve Chairman
