June 19, 2017 —
Coast Guard researchers test diesel outboard engines on a response boat-small. U.S. Coast Guard photo.
The Coast Guard Research and Development Center (RDC) is studying the possibility of outfitting the service’s boats with diesel outboard engines in hopes of significantly reducing the logistics infrastructure necessary to maintain the fleet. The Coast Guard currently uses diesel fuel for all of its cutters and some of its boats, but uses gasoline for other boats. “Having a single-fueled fleet could benefit the entire Coast Guard cutter and boat fleet with fuel sources, fuel contracts, fuel logistics, fuel storage, maintenance, training and overall support,” said Lt. Cmdr. Hector Maldonado, a sponsor representative with the Coast Guard Office of Naval Engineering.
A recent article on the Coast Guard Compass blog post examines the project in detail.
For more information: Research, Development, Test and Evaluation program page