Samsung`s international fast ferry debut

Greece`s Minoan Lines has signed a contract with Korean yard Samsung Heavy Industries for two fast 28,000g passenger/car ferries. The cost of each vessel is approximately $75 million, and the contract includes options for a further two ferries.

The order is a long-awaited breakthrough for SHI into the international fast ferry newbuilding arena, a sector in which it has invested heavily; the yard recently set up a dedicated passenger ship building facility at its Koje island site. The monohull ferries will be 212m long with a beam of 25m, and will have 2,000 lane metres for trailers and 100 cars. A maximum of 1,000 passengers will be accommodated. A top speed of 31 knots has been specified by the Greek operator, and the service speed will be 28.5 knots.

Minoan Lines is expecting to take delivery of the newbuildings in February and July 2001 respectively, when it will deploy the vessels between Greece and Italy.