Rodriquez Cantieri Navali Delivers The Princess

The newest Rodriquez fast ferry, The Princess, has been delivered Arab Bridge Maritime Company of Jordan in less than 12 months. Following the primary assembly and initial outfitting at the company’s Pietra Ligure shipyard, the ship was then launched and moved for final outfitting and commissioning to another Rodriquez yard, Intermarine, in La Spezia. The TMV 84, yard number 323, follows closely on the heels of another TMV 84, the “Ramon Llull” that was delivered only two months prior to Balearia. Whilst being essentially a sister-ship, “The Princess” has some significant differences from “Ramon Llull” namely: Main engines are the MTU 595 series instead of MAN B&W’s Paxman. All four waterjets are now steerable. The passenger capacity has grown from around 450 to 710. “The Princess” can carry 654 passengers in economy class, 48 in first class and there is a luxury VIP saloon for an additional 8 people. There is space for 58 cars or 18 cars when 10 full size double decker busses are on board. The range at 35 knots is 620 nautical miles. The propulsion system consists of four MTU 16V595 TE70L diesels each rated for 3925 kW at 1750 rpm. Total installed power is 15 700 kW. Each engine is connected to a dedicated steerable and reversible waterjet via a Reintjes gearbox. The fully retractable bow thruster, ride control system consisting of four anti roll fins and transom mounted Intruders, as well as the control / alarm / monitoring systems have been developed and delivered by Rodriquez Marine Systems, specialists in the field of advanced ancillary systems and ride control. The sea-trials were performed almost flawlessly in the waters off of La Spezia with the actual speed at 90% MCR and with 257 DWT’s on board being 35 knots, a full 2 knots more than was contractually stipulated. Maximum speed with a full load was 37 knots and the speed at half load was close to 41 knots. For Arab Bridge Maritime Company, “The Princess” is a very important ship. It is the first new building to fly the Jordanian flag, the first one in the Gulf of Aqaba, and the most sophisticated in their fleet. She will initially connect the Jordanian port of Aqaba with Neweba in Egypt but soon will also be used to go to the resort city of Sharm El Sheik (Egypt).