Largest ever high-speed multihull ordered

Austal Ships has won a contract to build the world?s largest high-speed multihull vessel. European ferry operator Fred. Olsen, has ordered a 126.7m cargo-vehicle-passenger trimaran from the Australian builder for delivery in the second half of 2004. The craft will be the largest high-speed multihull, the largest diesel-powered fast ferry ? catamaran or monohull, and probably the largest all-aluminium ship. The trimaran will have four diesel engines driving waterjets, giving a projected service speed in excess of 40 knots. It will provide capacity to carry 1,350 passengers, over 340 cars and a substantial number of trucks. Fred.Olsen, which operates ferry services to and in the Canary Islands, has operated three large catamarans since 1999. Fred Olsen Jnr., executive chairman of Fred. Olsen, says: “It was quite clear from the beginning that the catamarans had some limitations in terms of capacity and especially passenger comfort when operating in rough seas such as we have around the Canary Islands. This led us to the conclusion that further research was needed in order to develop a new concept for high-speed vessels. We wanted to combine the good comfort provided by the soft movement of monohulls, with the low resistance and very good stability and carrying capacity of catamarans. Maintaining high speed was also important to us so we were looking for increased engine power, without entering into gas turbines technology, which would have led to unacceptably higher operating costs. The characteristics of this new vessel, with a length of 126.7m and beam of 30m, will improve overall efficiency in terms of passenger capacity, deadweight and freight lane metres by more than 35%. At the same time passenger comfort will increase by 25% to 40% depending on the routes we operate. This trimaran should, for us, be the solution for many years to come and could very well set the standard for a new generation of large fast ferries.”