September 15, 2006

Floating an Idea: ATLAS chief hopes his hovercraft will

soon be rolling on the river, Florida

PALATKA DAILY NEWS, By Anthony DeMatteo  adematteo@palatkadailynews.com

GREEN COVE SPRINGS -- The head of a Green Cove Springs hovercraft company who addressed the Palatka City Commission last month said he hopes Palatka will have a port from which a ferry service can operate by next spring.

Kurt Peterson, the chief executive officer of ATLAS Hovercraft, said he is in discussions with the Jacksonville Transit Authority to permit his vessels’ commercial use of the St. Johns River.

Peterson said the transit authority has a regional charter governing use of the river.

A hovercraft travels on a pressurized bubble of air over land and sea.

The company’s vessels are 100-125 feet long and cost approximately $10 million each. The company would maintain ownership of the boats, sharing passenger revenue with the city.

Palatka has procured $1.7 million in federal grant money to fund the construction of a vessel or related infrastructure.

The project is the brainchild of Vice Mayor Mary Lawson Brown, who for 12 years has worked on bringing a passenger riverboat to town.

The switch to a hovercraft might be necessary, Brown said, because the state Department of Transportation wants proof the city can pay for the operation of any watercraft and funds are limited.

A hovercraft port could be funded with the grant money.

Peterson said he pitched the idea of the hovercraft coming to Palatka to Brown at a seminar this summer.

Brown said if the city gets one of the crafts, she will likely apply for additional grant money to fund the purchase of a paddleboat that could take passengers to Crescent City for a catfish dinner or to Welatka to munch on crabs.

“We’re still working on the paddleboat,” Brown said. “At the same time, we are working on getting the hovercraft here.”

Regional transport system

Both Brown and Peterson said they view the hovercraft plan as “regional” and are working with neighboring cities to participate.

Peterson said ATLAS, based in Green Cove Springs, would pay for the crafts’ operation, fuel and crew. He said at the August meeting that the company is considering relocating to Putnam County if it can find a location with a “free path” of about 100 feet to the river.

Palatka General Services Director Ken Venables said the city would likely split the fairs with ATLAS. Tickets prices are tentatively planned for about $10.

“The ticket price has to be reasonable — we want volume,” Venables said. “I think this could be the biggest thing to hit this area in years. I think we’ll see new business grow from this. I think entrepreneurs will see opportunities that I don’t. And it is certainly going to go beyond Palatka’s borders.”

Peterson said the company plans to build two to three dozen vessels a year, requiring 10 to 15 people working on each boat.

“Imagine the jobs that would bring if he brings the business to Palatka,” Venables said. “And we could be, essentially, his showroom.”

Venables said the hovercraft fleet could transport ambulances with sick passengers inside, allowing a safer, quicker ride to Jacksonville hospitals. He said the vessels have water-pumping capacity that might help extinguish fires on the river and could be used to evacuate people during a hurricane, when roads are often blocked with vehicles.

“The hovercraft is actually going to change the way people are transported during an emergency,” Peterson said. “It provides a faster, safer trip with no traffic and no railroad crossings.”

Venables said the demand for a fleet of the crafts taking people and cars to and from Jacksonville and neighboring communities might not be strong now, but with the city’s expansion, he wants to be ahead of the curve.

“I think we are going to have to create the demand,” he said. “This will open Palatka up.”

Brown agreed.

Peterson’s facility

At the ATLAS plant in Green Cove Springs, workers were busy putting together the first of the hovercrafts being built by the two-year-old company.

It has been ordered by a Chicago businessman to be used for diner cruises from the Navy Pier in the Windy City. It sits on an expanse of concrete at the industrial park ATLAS leases, needing two stories added to its deck and finishing touches completed before it’s ready for Chicago early next year. Peterson said it is constructed with space-age plastics bonded with glue rather than held together with rivets. When it’s finished, it will weigh about 90 tons and feature enough electricity to light two average subdivisions.

“If you didn’t know better you’d think it was made from steel or aluminum, but in reality, it’s an entirely plastic boat.”

Peterson demonstrates the maneuverability of the hovercrafts by controlling a scale model on a table in his large wherehouse, manipulating a joystick to turn the little vessel on a dime, smiling like a child operating a toy boat in a swimming pool.

Peterson said his business is booming. He expects to build between four and six hovercrafts next year and says ATLAS is growing at about 100 percent per quarter.

Other hovercraft uses

“Hovercraft can play a vital role in preventing terrorism because we are the ultimate patrol vessel,” Peterson said. “Hovercrafts can travel over the sea right up to the beach, on the beach and keep going. No other boat in the world can do this. We call it the ultimate Homeland Security vessel.”

The vessels are equipped with thermal imaging devices, allowing operators to travel at full speed in darkness.

“We have two types of radar on our hovercraft,” Peterson said. “One allows us to see the weather and one allows us to see through the weather.”

Peterson has a full-time staff of 20. With partners and satellite businesses, the workforce is about 100.

One facet of the business Peterson stresses is that it builds environmentally friendly vessels.

“Hovercraft technology is unique in that it is the only truly environmentally friendly watercraft in existence,” he said. “It has no propeller, no rudder and no hard structure touching the water when it’s in operation.”

He said the hovercrafts, which are glued together with “super adhesives,” run on soybean-based diesel fuel — a blend of organic and petroleum oils. He said all hydraulics have been eliminated from the vessels.

“Our diesel system from day one is positioned to take advantage of alternative sources,” he said. “We are stewards of the environment and this world. And it’s important for every company to strive to be as environmentally conscience and correct as you can be.”

Peterson said one of Florida’s favorite sea creatures should not fear an approaching hovercraft.

“We are completely benign when it comes to working in habitat with seas creatures like the manatee. You could literally drive over a manatee and he wouldn’t even know your’re there.”

Peterson said the St. Johns River is one of the most underutilized modes of transport in the state.

“I envision the St. Johns being a liquid highway for the entire region,” he said. “It’s just so easy for us to put down some asphalt and build a highway.”

Peterson said hoverports n essentially concrete slabs — are the cheapest docking facilities available.

“We’re not going to eliminate buses, cars or airplanes,” he said. “We are going to enhance and augment existing forms of public and private transportation.”

Peterson said ATLAS takes steps beyond those required by law in building the vessels to ensure their safety and quality.

“Our boats are not cheap,” he said. “Our hovercrafts are the most expensive in the world. But if I can give you a passenger vessel comparable in price to a conventional boat that consumes one-third to one-half the fuel and travels at two to three times the speed, in fuel savings alone an average commercial operator would save $2 to $3 million a year.”