Austal Sets New Record With Danish Ferry

Powered by four medium-speed engines, Express 5 has capacity for 1,610 passengers, and space over two ro-ro decks for 450 cars, or alternatively 617 lane-metres of commercial vehicles plus 257 cars.

The sleek, high-speed ferry has been allocated to the route linking the southernmost Swedish port of Ystad with Ronne, on the Danish island of Bornholm. Construction has been fulfilled by the Balamban yard of Austal Philippines, using a design from the Austal Australian team that developed the original, signature raked-bow hull as embodied in the preceding, 2019 delivery to Molslinjen, the 109m Express 4.

The latest ship incorporates Austal’s proprietary Motion Control and Marinelink-Smart systems that promote onboard comfort for passengers and crew and enhance efficient vessel performance. The project has augmented Austal’s Auto Express portfolio, encompassing over 30 catamaran and trimaran hull designs up to 127m.

The propulsion solution in the Express 5, designated an Auto Express 115, pairs Wartsila 31-series engines with Wartsila WXJ-type waterjets for the first time in a fast ferry project. The WXJ generation was introduced in 2019 as the eventual successor to the LJX range. The improved axial pump design of the modular WXJ achieves increased thrust of up to 3%.

The WXJ supply to Express 5 has entailed four units of the 1500SRI model, each driven by a 16-cylinder, vee-form W31 engine through a Reintjes SVA L950 gearbox. The nomination of the ultra-efficient W31 four-stroke design offers the potential for ready adaptation to the use of LNG fuel in the future, and the vessel’s layout takes due account of the related fuel storage needs.

The power concentration vested in the quadruple 16V31 installation, totalling 64 cylinders, may be gauged from the diesel engine’s nominal MCR of 630/650kW per cylinder, depending on whether the machinery is specified at 720rpm or 750rpm, and the dual-fuel version’s rating of 580/600kW per cylinder.

One pair of engines is laid out in staggered fashion in the port hull, and the other pair is arranged likewise in the starboard hull, making in each case for a driveline combination of longer and shorter shaftlines to paired transmission units serving two waterjets.

The arrangements allow the ferry to make more than 36 knots at 90% maximum output with the vessel loaded at 800dwt. It is understood that the vessel achieved 40 knots on trials and bettered class standards for noise and vibration on the passenger decks.

The order booked in October 2019 at a price of around A$136m ensured continuity of production at Balamban following the second trimaran newbuild for service in the Canary Islands with Fred Olsen Express, the 118m Banaderos Express. The Molslinjen contract has been completed in the face of the extraordinary challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic and by Typhoon Rai, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Odette, the second costliest typhoon in Philippine history, which struck in December 2021.

Express 5, moreover, signalled the implementation of the in-house conceived Austal Nautical Transportation System (ANTS). The rail-based transfer solution, using self-drive trollies with variable geometry to suit any hull configuration, allows a large newbuild to be shifted from the fabrication area to Austal Philippines’ floating dock securely and efficiently, and at a fraction of the cost of using conventional, mobile transportation.

Express 5 is the 21^st vessel delivered from the Balamban yard on Cebu over a 10-year period.

MAIN PARTICULARS – Express 5