Seeing Caterpillar® engines in action is not always easy, especially when they are powering ships in the middle of the ocean.
However, viewers of the popular television show 'Deadliest Catch' on Discovery Channel can regularly watch Cat® marine products propelling fishing vessels through some of the world’s roughest seas. And one of Caterpillar’s proudest customers, Captain Keith Colburn, spoke at the International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans about “How Caterpillar helps Make Progress Possible”.
Last year, the Captain visited the Caterpillar Engine Centre in Mossville, Illinois, USA, to learn more about the people and technology that keep Caterpillar marine engines at the forefront of the industry. Captain Colburn also toured the Technical Centre, where the company spends some US$ 5 million per day on research and development, and he visited the Caterpillar foundry in Mapleton, Illinois, which is in charge of high-quality engine block, engine head and cylinder liner production.
Captain Colburn was impressed with Caterpillar’s focus on product quality, driven by 6 Sigma and the Caterpillar Production System (CPS). He stressed that “whether it is crabbing in Alaska or marine engine manufacturing in Illinois, you need a highly engaged team to succeed!”
Captain Colburn started as a fisherman in 1985, when he went to Alaska with US$50, a backpack and a tent. After purchasing the Wizard, a former US Navy ship built during World War II, he has become internationally famous. Captain Colburn and his crew consistently rank in the top-five for crab producers operating in the Bering Sea, off the coast of Alaska.
The Wizard’s main propulsion is a 16-cylinder Cat 399 engine with Cat 7251 reduction gear. Two 6-cylinder Cat 3306 generating sets operate the hydraulics and AC power systems onboard the vessel. Another Cat 3306 operates the bow
thruster and finally a 4-cylinder Cat 3304 generating set provides electric power. The 16-cylinder vee-type Cat 399 engine series providing 1,063kW at 1,225rpm was installed back in 1979.
Still going strong, the Wizard’s propulsor testifies to the durability of Caterpillar marine product.
At the International WorkBoat Show, the Captain spoke, among other things, about the challenges of marine engine service in Alaska, where Caterpillar dealer NC Machinery is doing an excellent job, and about the challenges in managing both family life and fishing as a profession. According to Captain Colburn, crabbing in Alaska is unpredictable, unrelenting and unforgiving: “Under continuous operation and load for months at a time, I count on the reliability and endurance of Cat marine engines to get me through the nastiest conditions the Bering Sea can dish out”.
