On December 4,
Rodriquez Cantieri Navali Spa delivered a new 131.2 x 34.4 ft. (40 x 10.5 m) catamaran to Lauro Shipping Company. The ceremony took place in the port of Fiumicino, Italy, the departure point for Lauro’s new high speed route to the Ponza island with its
new catamaran, Maria Celeste Lauro.
The vessel will be followed next year with two more catamarans that are under construction at Rodriquez. Maria Celeste Lauro is CityCat 40 catamaran, yard number 341. The 320-passenger high speed vessel achieved 35 knots during sea trials, powered by a pair of Caterpillar 3516B diesel engines.
It is fitted with anti-pitch T-Foils located well forward to maximize their effectiveness and to minimize the pitching motion. There are also the well-proven “Intruders” fitted to the transom to provide for longitudinal adjustment of the trim while greatly reducing resistance increasing reaction time compared to traditional systems.
The vessel is built to RINA class and is fully HSC 2000 compliant. Passengers are distributed on two decks with the main deck being for economy class who have a snack bar at their disposal and the upper being a more upmarket business class area. All internal areas are fully temperature controlled with television monitors throughout and a complete sound system to add to the passenger comfort. As is typical for such vessels operating in the Med, loading is primarily via two aft ramps that have been designed to be quickly and easily deployed. There is also a small bow door for the rare occasions that a bow loading will be necessary.
In the past four years, Rodriquez has been heavily focused on diversifying its production range having developed a full range of fast ferries including catamarans to complement their industry leading fast monohulls and hydrofoils. This is in addition to their entry into the military and yacht sectors along with their most recent work with RoRo and RoPax ships.