Fast Ferry Contract for Incat

 

The new vessel for Naviera Armas is the second vessel in Incat’s new generation 109 meter high speed wave piercing catamaran range and will operate in Spanish waters when delivered in early 2019.

 

Born out of theIncat 112 meter, the concept was redesigned from the keel up by Incat’s in-house naval architects and engineers at Revolution Design Pty Ltd. The result is the 109 meter catamaran which offers similar passenger and vehicle capacity as the 112 meter but with performance improvements, including improved speed, lower fuel consumption and enhanced directional stability.

 

This latest refinement of Incat’s wave piercing hullform was first introduced in Mols Linjen’s 109 meter wave piercing catamaran Express 3, delivered in April. During sea trials Express 3 achieved a speed of 43 knots at 600 metric tons deadweight.

 

Seeking to present a new concept of fast ferry service in Spain, Naviera Armas is actively investing in high speed craft. This new vessel will be the third Incat craft to join the Naviera Armas fleet in as many years, following Volcán de Tirajana (Incat Hull 062, 98 meter) purchased in 2015 and Volcán de Teno (Incat Hull 056, 96 meter) acquired last year.

 

The first two Incat vessels in the Naviera Armas fleet were purchased after completing service elsewhere in Southern Europe, but as Armas CEO Antonio Armas explained, the significant global demand for fast ferries is translating to orders for newbuild tonnage.

 

“It is very hard to find quality second hand high speed ferries in the market, nevertheless given the performance of the two Incat-built vessels already purchased we are confident the wait for the newbuild 109 meter will be well worth it,” Armas said.

 

“This new Incat 109 meter will provide a service speed of 35 knots (65km/h) and accommodate 1,200 persons including 155 persons in business class. It will also be the first high speed ferry in southern Europe to feature a dual vehicle deck allowing cars and freight to be transported separately. The main deck has capacity for 595 truck lane meters with a 4.6 meter clear height and the upper deck will accommodate 215 cars.”

 

The contract price is EUR74 million and construction of the vessel will commence in June 2017.

 

Incat is also building a state-of-the-art 110 meter fast ferry for Mediterranean company Virtu Ferries for service between Malta and Sicily. That new ship (Incat Hull 089) is scheduled for delivery at the end of 2018. 

 

Incat currently has a 550-strong workforce at its Hobart shipyard and the yard is geared for delivering up to two large HSC per year. In addition to the three large fast ferries mentioned the yard has recently delivered the first of six new iconic passenger ferries for Transport for NSW to operate on Sydney Harbor.

 

Classification: DNV +1A1 HSLC R1 Car Ferry “B” EO

Gross tonnage: 10,800 (approx.)

Length overall: 109.4 m

Beam: 30.5 m

Draft: 4.1 m

Deadweight: 1,000 metric tons 

Persons: 1,200 (including crew) 

Passengers: 1,184 passenger seats in three lounges, including 155 business seats

Lane meters: 595 TLM at 4.6m clear height and 215 cars at 2.1m clear height 

Cars: 390 cars in car-only mode 

Engines: 4 x MAN Diesel & Turbo 28/33D STC 20V, rated at 9,100kW each

Waterjets: 4 x Wartsila Lips LJX 1500SR

Gearboxes: 4 x ZF NR2H 60000 

Service Speed: 35 knots with 600 metric tons deadweight