SeaWave Delivers for Alaska High Speed Ferry
SeaWave, LLC has installed the SeaWave Integrator 3.0 aboard the Alaska Marine Highway System's (AMHS) high speed ferry "Fairweather," as it embarks on a one month trip for delivery from Bridgeport, Connecticut to Juneau, Alaska today. The builder of the vessel, Derecktor Shipyards, wanted to have a communications system on board for email and weather tracking for its delivery voyage. Working with SeaWave, this has been accomplished. The SeaWave Integrator will provide voice and email communications to the Derecktor delivery captain and 10 crew members during transit of the first commercial ferry to be built to the international High Speed Craft (HSC) code in the United States. SeaWave provides tracking services using their SeaWave STAR vessel tracking software, freely available to SeaWave users from their Web portal mySeaWave."We expect the delivery voyage of the "Fairweather" from the East coast to Alaska to take about 21 days in good conditions," said Captain George Capacci, General Manager of the AMHS. "The ship will rely on the SeaWave system for vital daily weather forecasts as well as voice and email communication. We are also working with several schools around Alaska who can track the progress of the ship using SeaWave STAR on the way to Juneau." Built by Derecktor Shipyards in Bridgeport, CT, the "Fairweather" is 235 feet in length, capable of carrying 250 passengers and up to 35 vehicles at an operating speed of 32 knots.
Current ferries in the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) have an operating speed of approximately 17 knots. Because of its speed, the "Fairweather" will be able to overcome the distances between Alaskan towns to permit daily trips with a return to homeport every evening. This will mean improved customer service and reduced operating costs, quite a difference from the traditional operation of long overnight voyages of many days in length.