High Speed Car News

Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co. and Shin Nihonkai Ferry Co., have successfully applied for grant aid under the "Joint Technological Development Program for the Demonstration of Unmanned Ships" sponsored by The Nippon Foundation.Funding in hand, the companies will co-develop underlying technologies and systems to enable unmanned ship navigation in the future, with the tangible results of the project being a prototype system installed on a vessel to be operated by Shin Nihonkai Ferry…

A Solid State S-band radar with 8-ft antenna and high speed rotation – reportedly the world’s first and smallest – has been installed by JRC for the high speed car/passenger ferry Lake Express. The 192-ft USCG-inspected Subchapter catamaran travels at a service speed of 34-knots between Milwaukee, Wisc. and Muskegon, Mich. JRC said the dual X- and S-band radar installation offers Lake Express the features, design and integration of the new Multi Function Display as well as the ability to utilize a high speed S-band radar.

Eco Marine Power’s (EMP) Aquarius Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) System, a wind and solar power solution for ships, has been granted a patent in Japan, paving way for commercial production. The Aquarius MRE System is an integrated system of rigid sails, solar panels, energy storage modules and marine computer platforms that will enable ships to tap into renewable energy by harnessing the power provided by the wind and sun. The rigid sails that will be used by the Aquarius MRE System are based on EMP's EnergySail technology (Patent Pending).

As a result of the recent successful completion of sea trials on-board the high speed car and passenger ferry, Blue Star Delos, Eco Marine Power (EMP) has now cleared the Aquarius MAS + Solar and Aquarius Marine Solar Power solutions for commercial release. During two days of testing and evaluation on the 17th and 19th May, 2015, the performance of the Aquarius MAS + Solar trial system on-board Delos was assessed by both EMP and Blue Star Ferries technical personnel as part of the Blue Star Delos Renewable Energy Innovation Project. Aquarius MAS + Solar is an innovative renewable energy solution for ships and the trial system includes a 2.3 kWp marine solar panel array, a 5.4 kWhr battery pack, MPPT charge controllers, a marine computer plus associated communications and interface devices.

Over the past several months, FVF Chenega, a high-speed car ferry in the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) fleet, was repowered with four new MTU Series 4000 engines. In April, the project was completed with two days of successful sea trials in Seattle. Engineers from MTU America Inc., a Rolls-Royce Power Systems company, along with members of the Chenega’s crew and other AMHS representatives ran the ship through a series of extensive performance and endurance tests on Puget Sound. The results of the tests were positive, according to the crew and the engineering team.

Hornblower Marine Services (HMS) is pleased to announce that William Bill Annand, its Director of Marine Operations for Hawaii Superferry, has been appointed Chairman of the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) High-Speed Subcommittee. Members of the PVA’s High-Speed Subcommittee include operators, designers, builders, equipment suppliers and regulators of high-speed craft. As Director of Marine Operations for Hawaii Superferry, Annand presides over the Alakai, the world’s most celebrated high-speed vessel, providing long-awaited passenger ferry service between Honolulu, O’ahu and Maui. Because the vessel has been controversial, Annand is intimately familiar with hot-button issues of concern to the High-Speed side of the passenger vessel industry and its association.

Building fast RoPax vessels is nothing new for Australia's Austal Ships. The company, founded just 16 years ago, has quickly crafted a reputation as one of the largest and best builders of aluminum craft in the world, and today boasts an annual turnover in excess of $250 million. Spirit of Ontario, however, is in a different league. The ship arrived last month from its birth place Down Under to start work for Canadian American Transportation System on the commuter route between Rochester, NY, and Toronto, ON. Its inaugural route to work took it on tours through the Hawaiian Islands and eventually to Pier 17 at New York City's South Street Seaport…

The proliferation of sleek, unique and fast ferries on U.S. waterways is slowly becoming the reality that has been much discussed for decades. While the country does not have an inate "ferry mentality" that is so prevalent in the European culture, in part due to the vastly different geographic challenges, many parts of the country, particularly the heavily congested Northeast corridor, are starting to accept the advantages of relatively fast and efficient water transport. According to a survey conducted by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Mass., high-speed ferries account for only 10 percent of the overall national U.S. ferry fleet.

Hornblower Marine Services announced the appointment of Bill Annand as Director of Marine Operations for Hawaii Superferry. Hornblower Marine Services, based in New Albany, Ind., is contracted to operate the long-awaited passenger ferry between Honolulu and the islands of Maui and Kauai. Passenger service is scheduled to begin in August 2007. Annand will initially manage approximately 100 crew members, including unlimited officers, and non-rated union and non0union shipboard staff. He is responsible for daily marine operations including crew management, regulatory compliance, training, budgeting, repairs and maintenance as well as record keeping. Currently Hawaii Superferry is operating a single vessel.

Key stakeholders involved in the project to build a 192-ft. high-speed ferry for Milwaukee-based Lake Express LLC attended a ceremony on July 10 to celebrate the start of the vessel's construction at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, AL. Chris Pemberton, Austal USA's Vice President of Sales and Marketing, welcomed the guests and explained that construction of the aluminum catamaran was actually already well underway, as was evident in the main construction hall of Austal USA's shipbuilding facilities. "MARAD's recent confirmation of loan guarantees under the Title XI program was vital to this project moving forward, and it is a great pleasure to be involved in realizing Ken's 10-year-old dream of a high speed link across Lake Michigan," Pemberton said.

Key stakeholders involved in the landmark project to build a 192-ft. high-speed ferry for Milwaukee-based Lake Express LLC attended a ceremony on July 10 to celebrate the start of the vessel’s construction at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, AL. Chris Pemberton, Austal USA’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, welcomed the guests and explained that construction of the aluminum catamaran was actually already well underway, as was evident in the main construction hall of Austal USA’s modern shipbuilding facilities. Pemberton acknowledged the Maritime Administration’s support for the project and lauded the vision of the Director of the Port of Milwaukee, Ken Szallai.

An innovative high speed car and passenger ferry is currently under development by Nigel Gee & Associates and is sponsored by Norasia Services. The project, dubbed Project Pecan, is based on the patented Pentamaran hull form (Int. Pat App PCT/GB96/02313). The vessel design, like others in the same classification, is designed for the best possible combination of low resistance and good seakeeping capabilities. Project Pecan deviates from traditional designs through the use of two pairs of slender sponsons, which are designed to provide the vessel required stability with little effect on resistance and powering. The result, according to the designer is a vessel able to be propelled at high speed using significantly less power than other vessel forms.

Incat Australia Pty. Ltd. is widely regarded as a premier builder of high-speed ferries, and that reputation was enhanced with the production of three wave-piercer catamarans, which hold the distinction of being the fastest ships ever to cross the Atlantic. The two latest, Catalonia and Cat-link V, are from Incat's line of 299 ft. wave-piercer class of fast-ferry vessels. They made their individual record-breaking journeys across the Atlantic within weeks of each other, at average speeds of 39 knots and 41 knots, respectively. The wave-piercer fast-ferry vessels have been launched from Incat docks in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, since September 1997.

Incat Australia Pty. Ltd. is widely regarded as a premier builder of high-speed ferries, and that reputation was enhanced with the production of three wave-piercer catamarans, which hold the distinction of being the fastest ships ever to cross the Atlantic. The two latest, the Catalonia and the Cat-link V are from Incat's line of 299 ft. (91 m) wave-piercer class of fast-ferry vessels. They made their individual record-breaking journeys across the Atlantic within weeks of each other, at the average speeds of 39 knots and 41 knots, respectively. The wave-piercer fast-ferry vessels have been launched from Incat docks in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, since September 1997.