Veecraft Marine

Why Build in Aluminium?

If you need a vessel that is going to last for a very long time
with minimal maintenance, with very good structural strength
and yet lighter than steel. It will have to be aluminium.
Aluminium Welding can bring ideas to life. Freedom to design.

	A welded aluminium hull compared to fibreglass will yield a more durable craft that will be easy to customise to your requirements. This can be done simply and quickly. It also applies to repairs and retrofits to meet changing operational requirements. Aluminium has a higher strength to weight ratio than most traditional boat building materials. Aluminium boats typically weigh 45 to 55% less than steel. This reduced weight brings many advantages, such as maintenance, economy and or speed.
Aluminium has greater toughness. It will survive impacts where steel or fibreglass will rupture, while aluminium will merely dent. Aluminium like steel has considerable ductility- the ability to withstand permanent deformation without rupture. Due to the nature of aluminium, it can absorb the energy of any impact over a greater distance than steel. Stress levels are therefore considerably less than would be the case in steel. Fibreglass on the other hand, is extremely brittle and is thus subject to cracking and fracture during impact.
	The hull, deck and keel of an aluminium boat are all one welded structure, with no joints and possibility of leaks. Aluminium vessels do not need to be painted and that saves on down time and cost. Aluminium vessels are much easier to repair than fibreglass boats, particularly vessels with foam liners. Dents can often be eased out with a mallet. If necessary, sections can be cut out with a saw and a new section of plate can simply be welded in without it even being noticeable. It is also easy to make changes to aluminium deck structures and fittings.
Shipbuilding is an ever-changing science and is at the leading edge of technology. Whether your interest is military vessels, patrol craft, harbour vessels, rapid crew transfer, rescue craft, fishing, research vessels, surveillance vessels, high-speed passenger ferries, work boats, fire boats and even leisure craft you can have a vessel built from the very latest aluminium boat building materials. We find that more and more customers want to go fast economically and in comfort. They want air conditioning which needs good temperature insulation. Sound insulation is also a very important aspect of life.
	The Aluminium Federation of South African insures that we have the very latest technology regarding welding, testing and materials. We use marine grade aluminium. These materials are manufactured in South Africa by Hulamin Aluminium who insure that we get the products we need at market related prices. A wide range of aluminium extrusions are now available which reduces the time it takes to build aluminium vessels and creates a very neat finnish. Veecraft Marine builds vessels to any recognized certification society. The company built three vessels to Lloyds' certification during 2008.
Aluminium does not burn. Uninformed press reported that the aluminium superstructures on the British war ships burnt resulting in the sinking of these ships during the Falklands War. Twelve ships sunk only three of which had aluminium superstructures. The other nine ships were constructed of steel. A British Defence white paper was published on the 14^th December 1982 concluding that aluminium was not responsible for the sinking of any of the vessels nor was there any evidence that aluminium burned. It stated that all materials have some disadvantages and advantages in any given set circumstances. They went on to promote the use of aluminium in military shipbuilding.
	Aluminium has a history in shipbuilding that spans more than 100 years. The Swiss built a 5.5-meter steam launch back in 1891. Aluminium has become a very popular ship building material since the late 80’s & early 90’s. The new era of fast ships. Passenger and car ferries whisk passengers, vehicles and cargo across the seas at speeds of well over 40 knots. The lighter the vessel, the more you can carry. You will need less power for a given speed and you can do it more economically.

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