New cats for India

Ferry passengers travelling between a group of Indian islands in the Arabian Sea will soon benefit from a new high-speed catamaran passenger ferry service. The service will employ three new vessels designed by BMT Nigel Gee and Associates Ltd, a subsidiary of BMT Ltd, for India?s premier shipping line, the Shipping Corporation of India.

The catamarans are the first passenger vessels to be drawn up by the company for an Indian operator and will be the first to be built by Penguin Shipyards International Pte Ltd in Singapore under a new licence agreement between BMT and the shipyard.

The first vessel will be delivered to the Corporation in March 2007. When in service each catamaran will provide a vital transportation service for 154 passengers between the islands that form the Union Territory of Lakshadweep Administration, situated in the Arabian Sea to the South-West of India.

BMT has designed the catamarans, which are 35 metres long and have a maximum deadweight of 43.5 tonnes, to ensure that they will be capable of operating in rough conditions throughout the year. The vessels will be propelled by Cummins KTA50 M2 engines, each delivering 1,343 kW at 1900 rpm on a heavy duty rating combined with Hamilton HM721 water jets through twin-disc gearboxes. These will give the vessels a 25-knot full load speed. Motion damping systems consisting of t-foils and interceptors will be supplied by Maritime Dynamics.

The vessels will be dually classed to Bureau Veritas, Indian Registry of Shipping and IMO HSC2000.