Post by ferryfast admin on Nov 30, 2007 12:24:57 GMT -5
At 100kmh, WA’s $45m ferry sets a hot pace
29th November 2007, 5:15 WST
THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN
www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=48754
WA shipbuilder Austal yesterday publicly unveiled the fastest ship it has ever built and what is about to become the fastest commercial ferry operating anywhere in the world, with a working speed of just under 100kmh.
Surfers, cormorants and a handful of small fishing boats swayed in its wake yesterday as the 65m, $45 million Shinas completed its final speed trial close to the shore between Fremantle and Cottesloe.
It failed narrowly to beat its own world record, set a few days earlier, of 55.9 knots or 103.5kmh, the fastest time ever clocked by a diesel-powered ferry.
But at 55 knots, the catamaran exceeded comfortably its standard operating speed of 52 knots, the highest working speed of any commercial ferry in the world and a pace which would get it from Fremantle to Rottnest in just over 10 minutes.
The previous record of 49 knots was held by a ferry built by Tasmanian rival Incat.
Shinas is the first of two identical vessels Austal is building for the oil-rich Sultanate of Oman and can carry 208 passengers and 56 cars.
It is intended to be used on a 180km route between the Omani capital of Muscat and Musandam on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, helping to build Oman’s emerging tourism industry as it moves to diversify from its dwindling oil supplies.
It will also be used by the Sultan for security purposes, with other features including a helicopter landing pad, full firefighting facilities and a well-equipped medical transfer station.
Austal insiders say the boat’s capabilities, which suck up around 8000 litres of diesel an hour at top speed, would render it unviable for a standard commercial ferry operator.
But for a customer with access to cheap fuel and whose overriding concern was that it be capable of doing more than 50 knots, the economics were less of a priority.
Passengers, whales and other craft may be comforted that the vessel can stop relatively quickly in the event of an obstacle emerging suddenly.
A trial emergency stop yesterday saw it pull up in just over its own length.
CATHY BOLT