Hovering into the future

Two separate articles mentioned gas-turbine powered banana carriers, and a hovercraft that had just been completed for another banana company.

50 years ago the hovercraft was the latest word in futuristic transport. The article saw its potential as a passenger ferry; in fact the concept worked admirably for some years, but was superseded by the fast catamaran ferry. In some ways this was a retrograde step; I can recall travelling on one of the last hovercraft in conditions that kept the SeaCat in harbour. But it was the cost of operation, particularly maintenance, that proved prohibitive in the end.

Meanwhile, MAN announced a new vee-type four stroke engine, the VV30/45, intended for ferries and similar vessels where the engine room height was constrained. Perhaps the most striking aspect was the clean appearance, with far fewer pipes and external appendages than other engines of the same era. Something which did not become a general trend in our industry until well into the 1990s.