(API Services: Newport News, VA) -- The Lake George Steamboat Co., located in New York, boasts the title of the “world’s oldest transportation company.” The steamboat company recently had API Services laser scan the hull of the 107-year-old Mohican, the oldest boat in its fleet.
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The original Mohican (1894–1907) was a 93-ft wooden hull vessel. In 1907, the steamboat company decided to replace her with a steel-hulled vessel. Months later, in the summer of 1908, the new ship was christened the Mohican II, after her predecessor. Thus began the first of her 107 years of continuous service on Lake George.
Originally, the Mohican’s two propellers were driven by Fletcher steam engines, the steam being generated by the burning of two tons of coal each day. She worked under steam power through the WW II, at which time she was the only passenger vessel plying Lake George. When Wilbur Dow purchased Georgia Steamboat Co. in November 1945, he determined that diesel would be a more efficient means of propulsion and that the conversion to diesel engines would free large areas on the Mohican’s second deck for passenger use. The conversion was completed in 1946.
In June 2008, the Mohican was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, the third active passenger vessel to be so designated. In May 2015, the Mohican began her 107th year of operation on pristine Lake George.
API Services was thrilled to be a part of preserving this historical vessel by laser scanning the hull of the Mohican. API Services’ scanning technology offered submillimeter accuracy ranging from 1 m to 180 m. In the course of one afternoon the Mohican exterior was fully digitized.
A 3D model of the hull shell plate will be generated from the digitization and provided to naval architects at Dejong and Lebet, Inc. They will use the 3D model to create drawings for the rip-out and replacement of the original hull plating to ensure the ship can continue to run for years to come.
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