Shockwave Seats is a key partner of Silver Ships, providing high quality shock mitigating seats that protect vessel operators from the shock of wave impact. Shockwave was founded in 2001, and the U.S. Coast Guard was its first customer. Now Shockwave designs and builds shock mitigating seats for militaries worldwide, including for the vessels Silver Ships delivers to military customers.

All Shockwave’s seats are tested under real-life conditions and are constructed ruggedly to decrease maintenance and increase performance and life span. Components are tested individually and undergo extensive data analysis to ensure ultimate performance.

Like Silver Ships, Shockwave seeks the best solution for customers who have a wide range of mission-specific needs. These shared goals have made Silver Ships’ partnership with Shockwave successful in providing military customers with high quality aluminum workboats that are outfitted to support and protect their operators.

Shock Mitigating Seats

Shockwave’s shock mitigating seats provide support for marine operators from the shock of wave impact. Shockwave offers unlimited customization to support any mission, offering customers a wide range of products to fit their mission.

Shockwave’s seats are deployed in thousands of military vessels to increase safety when operating at extreme speeds in rough open water conditions. In particular, Shockwave S3 G-Force seats are used in Silver Ships’ Special Purpose Craft-Law Enforcement 2 and Naval Special Warfare Surface Support Craft vessels., keeping U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy operator performance high and injury low.

How Shockwave Seats Protect Marine Operators

Protecting marine operators by providing seats that increase comfort and reduce impact from shock of wave impact is the key mission for Shockwave. The most common injuries from shock of wave impact are orthopedic, specifically to the spine and joints. The seats are designed to withstand high impact waves, providing six to eight inches of shock travel, allowing the seat to compress and rebound to minimize impact to the occupant.

Shockwave’s seats are capable of mitigating dynamic exposure to levels below acceptable limits, as specified in ISO Standards 2631 Part 1 (1997) and Part 5 (2001); sections 14.4 -14.4.9.3 of ASTM F1166-07. These requirements protect operators from vibration and shock that expose humans to whole-body vibration, which can cause serious injury.

The suspension travel prevents the seat from hitting the suspension stops during an acceleration event 10 times the acceleration of gravity, with an occupant up to the 95^th percentile in male weight. This provides operators and passengers carrying gear, weaponry and other mission-required equipment protection by the shock absorption of the seats.

Shockwave’s seats offer three levels of bottoming protection that increase operator safety:

1. The Progressive Air Rate Spring makes it impossible to fully compress the air in the air spring at the end of the stroke, providing a constant resisting force to shock. The spring rate increases as stroke increases and can ramp up to 3000 pounds at full compression, providing a smooth ride in the most extreme conditions.
2. Built-in Absorption Cushions, originally developed for NASCAR seats, provide further protection with energy absorbing foam layering the seats.
3. The Rubber Bump Stop is a final layer of protection, preventing the suspension from bottoming out in the rare case of full decompression.

Shock mitigating seats are key for providing military operators protection from harsh conditions while on mission or in training exercises. Silver Ships is proud to provide military customers with the protection operators deserve while serving our country.

Vessel Spotlight: Silver Ships Special Purpose Craft Law Enforcement Second Generation

Silver Ships recently delivered a SPC-LE2 to a Texas Coast Guard Station. This 11-meter (36’) aluminum response boat is outfitted with six Shockwave S3 G-Force Drop Down Seats offering unparalleled support and protection from high impact waves. These seats provide critical deck-space efficiency to support mission-specific needs and cost-effective replaceable upholstery seat covers. Shockwave has been designing and building shock mitigating seats for the U.S. Coast Guard going on 25 years.

Shockwave is a trusted partner of Silver Ships, providing custom shock mitigating seats for a variety of workboats in Silver Ships’ production queue. Silver Ships looks forward to the continued partnership with Shockwave to provide military customers with the highest quality aluminum workboats, outfitted with unique missions in mind.

New Product Coming Soon

As part of the ongoing development and refinement of the Shockwave products, a brand-new product will be unveiled at the beginning of December that will take professional marine safety to a new level. The new seat answers the need to safeguard the health and welfare of professional operators regularly operating in extreme conditions. The product will be officially launched at the International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans, Louisiana, at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, December 3.