Marskeel Provides Ballast for the New Electric Powered Maid of the Mist

May 14, 2020

MarsKeel is proud to be associated with the iconic Maid of the Mist tour, providing two new vessels with 62,400 lbs of 2” x 4” x 8” custom cast rectangular lead bricks, with each brick weighing 26 lbs.

Weight was important because the ballast had to be installed by hand and the shape was critical as it had to allow for a very tight stacking on the bricks. This ballast was delivered to the riverside in early March 2020.

The reason for the ballast was the new Maid of the Mist vessels have a different hull shape.
• The new vessels are powered by twin electric motors (400 kW total output) …these are far lighter than the old diesel driven vessels, even with the needed battery banks.
• The hull structure is lighter…. the new vessels are catamarans made from aluminum which is far lighter than the older steel structures. (The existing steel monohulls are diesel-powered and have been in service since 1955).

The complete redesign of the vessels is aimed to make the new vessels more sustainable and lower the emissions to almost zero. An additional benefit to the electric drive was fuel savings, according to the customer web site. Learn more about MarsKeel at www.marskeel.com