Significant investment in the future of green maritime tourism in Kent

Jetstream Tours has spent the end of the summer season in engineering mode. Despit e a challenging f ew y e a r s a n d a g o o d w e a t h e r S e p t e m b e r p re d i c t e d , t h e t o u r c o m p a ny c l o s e d i t s d o o r s t emporally t o embark on its biggest engineering project t o dat e.

The flagship vessel, Jacob Marley joined the Jetstream fleet in 2016 with engines that were installed in 1980s, and they have done ver y well to be still working, but they are based on old requirements for their emissions and spares were becoming hard to find However, with the climate emergency and the potential impact on local air quality, it was time to change to newer, cleaner engines Jetstream had already switched the entire fleet over to HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) in Januar y 2021, which reduced Carbon emissions by up to 90% and harmful air pollutants As a result, Jetstream Tours was one of the first Thames Green Scheme Operators to be recognised for our adoption of greener technologies https://greenscheme pla co uk/green-recognitionfor-thames-operators/

Doosan Engines were chosen due to the ease of installation and close match to the original power train mean that we could use the existing gearboxes, Shafts and propellors It was a matter of just removing the old engines, swapping the gearboxes onto the new engines and reinstalled Once the specifications of the engines had been approved by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), Jetstream Tours placed the order in December 2021 and were delivered in August 2022 As soon as the engines arrived from Doosan through the UK supplier WaterMota Ltd, the planning star ted After six intense weeks, the Jetstream Engineering team have installed the engines with their SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) systems and new Adblue Tanks.

Managing Director Richard Bain said “We are really proud be able to make this next step to continue to improve our operations During engine commissioning we have already noticed that the engines are more efficient on fuel, quieter and has no visible smoke emitted from our funnel stacks ” James Wyatt (Sales Director, WaterMota Ltd), said “We were delighted to be involved in this project and the new Tier III Doosan DL08 was an excellent solution due to size, weight, output and of course emissions requirements The commissioning and sea-trials went extremely well and we’d like to wish the Owners & crew the ver y best of luck for the future and happy sailing.

There has been a slight reduction in the weight of the vessel and so a final check was conducted to verify the vessel stability was not affected The MCA conducted their checks to ensure the engines were installed in line with manufactures recommendations and regulations prior to Jacob Marley resuming ser vice. Jacob Marley’s first job was to conduct a fish and chip cruise and is now ready for a more environmentally friendly 2023 cruising season www jetstreamtours com www watermota co uk