NBG handles submarine deployment for the 7th fleet and is home port to four Los Angeles-class attack submarines. Camels prevent damage to vessels and port structures when submersibles are berthed or moored, but conventional materials make the external flotation structures prone to high maintenance and frequent replacement.
NBG found a solution with Composite Advantage’s corrosion resistant, fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composite universal submarine camels.
“Metal and wood camels require removal every two years for inspection and repair which can be costly if corrosion has set in,” said Scott Reeve, marketing director for Composite Advantage, now part of the Creative Composites Group. “Poor durability was another problem. The FRP universal composite camel is corrosion resistant to salt water and chemicals, requires no maintenance, reduces life cycle costs and can accommodate any class of submarine.”
A set of two FRP camels 36ft long, 18ft high and 17ft deep, weighing 70,000lb each were fabricated in Composite Advantage’s Dayton, Ohio factory and shipped to Whittier, California in December 2019.
The camels travelled 6,111 miles by ship to Guam, arriving on 13th January. Final assembled at a Guam shipyard, the two camels were set in the water and tugged to the naval base where they were moored to the pier ready for use. Composite Advantage has been designing and fabricating FRP universal camels for the Navy since 2013.