The Spirit of Washington is a dining and entertainment cruise ship, one of many “Spirit” ships owned by City Experiences/Hornblower. With tours of the Washington D.C. area, Norfolk, New York, and more, the ship can hold it up 600 passengers. To maximize the dining and entertainment space on the ship, there are four levels to accommodate guests. Due to the tall height and short width of the ship, there was a need for more control when docking the ship. Often navigating close quarters on the Potomac River, the Spirit of Washington needed to increase the vessel maneuvering and handling capabilities.

Bay Power Solutions was a key team member in the solution. To increase the vessel handling capabilities, Spirit needed to increase the size of their bow thruster and install an engine large enough to power the new system. Spirit came to Bay Power Solutions because of By Power’s ability to see projects as a whole, anticipate potential problems and work through them quickly to keep production on schedule. Bay Power Solutions worked with Spirit’s marine architect and determined that the Spirit’s current engine needed to be upgraded to a new emissions compliant 6068SFM50 John Deere engine. Due to the distance from the Pilot House to the engine room (approx. 180 feet), a Microprocessor-Based Engine Management System would be required to effectively implement the upgrade. Provide full control and engine monitoring in the Pilot House and wing stations, the microprocessor was a necessary addition to fulfill the Spirit’s need for increased vessel handling capabilities.

Bay Power Solutions was able to assist the shipyard and Spirit with the complete upgrade in just over a month, allowing the vessel to have a minimal downtime.