Yorkshire/Whitby ship-engine specialist appointed to Team Britannia world-record attempt
Wednesday, 2nd May 2018
Team Britannia the organisation behind the latest attempt to set the world record for sailing around the world in the fastest time, has appointed Yorkshire-based Maktec Marine as its engine specialist.
Maktec Marine founder Mark Cornforth said the challenge for the much coveted world record is to beat the current holder New Zealander Pete Bethune’s time of 60 days 23 hours 49 minutes for the 23,000 mile voyage.The attempt will be made in the specially designed 80ft long powerboat Excalibur which is presently being built/undergoing trials ahead of the world-record attempt next year led by well known racing sailor Alan Priddy.
Mr Cornforth said the world record effort is taking on even greater significance as the Excalibur will be powered by the revolutionary new green friendly hybrid fuel, Hydro Diesel. The fuel has been developed by Alan Priddy at his Portsmouth-based company Clean Fuel and is made of a mixture of diesel, water and emulsifying agent. In tests Hydro Diesel has dramatically reduced harmful emissions such as particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide by up to XX per cent.
“Maktec has developed its engine expertise working on all kinds of vessels and engines around the world over the last 20 years,” said Mark who began his career as a naval engineer serving in the Falklands.
“And we are absolutely delighted to be chosen as engine advisers for this incredible record attempt and longer term as the distributor of Hydro Diesel when it becomes available to the market. The challenge reflects Maktec’s passion to make ship engines greener, less harmful and more energy efficient. We work on repairing ship engines week in week out and we know the diesel industry simply has to change and become greener.”
Mr Cornforth said Maktec’s job is to help prepare the Excalibur’stwo customised Fiat Power Train C13 500, six cylinder for the challenge and then monitor their performance using Hydro Diesel checking the emissions and that the fuel does not damage the engine and then make a full report.
“From a technical view point we are fascinated to see how the Hydro Diesel performs at powering the engines which are capable of generating 500HP at 2,000 RPM,” he said. “The engines and the fuel will be put to the ultimate test during this challenge and we want to be transparent in how it performs. Butwe are confident, we have seen Hydro Diesel tested already and we believe this product has a very big future. It can tackle one of the biggest challenges in the world today – removing particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide from existing diesel engines in ships, cars and other vehicles all over the world. That is what the Britannia Challenge is setting out to do – to grab attention that there is a clean solution to the chronic global problem of harmful diesel engine emissions.”
Mr Cornforth said Hydro Diesel has taken more than 10-years to develop, testing the formulas and bonding agents.
“If the Hydro Diesel stands up to the challenge we expect to see it become certified and enter the market as a seriously disruptive environmentally friendly fuel,” he said.
Maktec offers repairs, maintenance and spare parts to all types of ship diesel and gas engines worldwide. It has experience of working onCaterpillar, MaK, MAN, Sulzer, Wartsila and Jenbacher engines.In October, Maktec announced it had been appointed global distributor for the maritime sector by the UK’s largest independent lubricant manufacturer Exol.
For more details on Maktec contact Maktec Marine tel: +44 (0) 01947 810842 email: office@maktecmarine.comvisit: www.maktecmarine.com
Visit: www.clean-fuel-ltd.com/team-britannia-clean-fuel/
