Classic Fast Ferries · 2012. 10. 19. · 4 CLASSIC FAST FERRIES 2 / 2005 Emeraude Jersey Ferries has leased Incat 74m wavepiercing catamaran SeaCat France from Sea Containers. Originally

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T W O | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 5 | V O L U M E S I X

RHS 7OHYDROFOIL

A DYING BREED

NORWAY'S FIRSTFAST FERRY OPERATOR

TURNS 15O

GREEK DOLPHINSCOME AND GO

AND COME

22 CLASSIC FAST FERRIES 2 / 2005

2 n F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 5 n V O L U M E S I X E40200502

NEWS AND ARTICLES ABOUT CIVIL HYDROFOILS, HOVERCRAFT & CATAMARANS | EDITOR/PUBLISHER : TIM TIMOLEONALL ARTICLES, LAYOUT & ARTWORK PRODUCTION, EXCEPT WHERE NOTED : TIM TIMOLEON | PUBLISHED IN PDFFORMAT | WWW.CLASSICFASTFERRIES.COM | SUBMITTALS OF MANUSCRIPTS AND PHOTOS, OLD AND NEW, ANDRELEVANT NEWS ITEMS ARE ENCOURAGED! | EMAIL TO : CFF @ EMAIL.DK | COPYRIGHT 2000/2005 CLASSIC FAST FERRIES.COVER PHOTO : RHS 70 FRECCIA DELLE BETULLE (CENTER) WAS WITHDRAWN FROM SERVICE BY NAVICOMO INNOVEMBER. SPEEDING PAST BEHIND ITS BACK IS ONE OF THREE REPLACEMENT CATAMARANS / ANDREA PASQUALINI photo

Greek ferry operator Hellas Flying Dolphinsannounced last month that a new corporate name,Hellenic Seaways, has been adopted, replacing thethree brands hitherto used. The conventionalvessels were trading under the names of HellasFerries and Saronikos Ferries and the fast ferrydivision as Hellas Flying Dolphins. The new name reflects changes in services andfleet composition, the company reports. As far asthe latter goes, the number of hydrofoils – whichin Greek terminology are almost synonymous withdolphins – is expected to have dropped fromnearly 30 only a year or so ago to just a handfulby the end of 2005. In addition to the fifteen Kometa and Kolkhidahydrofoils presently active, the current HellenicSeaways fast ferry fleet constists of six passenger-

only catamarans and four vehicle/passengercatamarans. A fifth fast car catamaran is underconstruction and will enter service this summer. As already suggested, the total number ofhydrofoils owned by the company is higher, butseveral Kometas have been retired in recentmonths and also laid up toward the end of 2004were three RHS 160F hydrofoils. The name may be new but the company's fastferry history goes back 30 years. Based in Piraeus,Ceres Hydrofoil introduced a pair of Kometas toAígina and the Peloponnes peninsula in 1975.Many more hydrofoils, new as well as acquiredfrom other operators, were added during the 70sand 80s including three Kolkhidas in 1985–86.The route network expanded accordingly.

C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 6

HELLENIC SEAWAYS NEW NAME FOR HELLAS FLYING DOLPHINS

Kolkhida Flying Dolphin19, delivered in 1983,most likely will beamong the less than tenhydrofoils remainingwith Hellenic Seawaysby the end of the year.Behind it an olderKometa sport ing theformer Ceres Hydrofoilslivery of yellow and blue

/NIKOS THRYLOS photo

CLASSIC FAST FERRIES 2 / 2005 33

Later this month, on February 12,legendary Norwegian shipping companyDet Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab willbe celebrating its 150th anniversary. Based in Stavanger in south-westernNorway, DSD was founded in 1855 bythe Traders Association of Stavanger bymeans of public shares. Originally a local ferry company, since1989 DSD has expanded into a multi-taskconcern involved in domestic sea, road,air and rail transportation, internationalshipping, real estate, catering and, morerecently, the IT sector. One of the DSD group of companies isStavangerske, which is responsible for the

Those were the Westamaran days... W95 l ine-up at Stavanger nearly sixteen years ago, in June 1989. From left to r ight are Vingtor and Tranen,delivered in 1974, and Tyrving f rom 1977 /LARS HELGE ISDAHL photo

DET STAVANGERSKE DAMPSKIBSSELSKABTURNS 15O

conventional and high-speed ferryoperations in the Rogaland district. Stavangerske, which for a number ofyears, from 1990 through to 2003, wasknown as Rogaland Trafikkselskap, is awholly owned subsidiary of DSD, which inturn is controlled by Folke Hermansena/s. Stavangerske has a 40% stock inHardanger Sunnhordlandske Dampskips-selskap, another of Norway's long-timeshipping companies, founded in Bergen in1890, and in addition to its own routesand vessels operates the Stavanger–Haugesund–Bergen Flaggruten fast ferryservice together with HSD.

DSD first introduced a Supramar PT.50hydrofoil built by the Leopoldo Rodriquezshipyard in Messina, Vingtor, on theStavanger–Bergen route in 1960. AnotherPT.50 and a PT.20 were added thefollowing year, and finally an RHS 140entered service with the company in1972. At this point the Westamaran 86catamaran, invented by WestermoenHydrofoil, had entered the Norwegianfast ferry executives corridors, preventingany further hydrofoil acquisitions in thecountry. Thus, since 1972 some twentycatamarans of various designs, alldomestically developed and built, havebeen operated by DSD. A few smallermonohulls have been introduced as well. All the earlier craft of mainly the W86and W95 and Fjellstrand 38.8m designshave been sold off over the years. Thecurrent Stavangerske catamaran fleetcomprises a pair of Båtservice SeaLord28, Fjorddrott and Fjordbris, delivered in1990–91, and an Oma Båtbyggeri 26m,Fjordlys, that entered service in 2002. The full history of DSD's hydrofoils1960–79 can be found in the CLASSICFAST FERRIES October 8/2003 themeissue Norway – The Hydrofoil Years. Which,as its title suggests, also included HSD aswell as all the other Norwegian hydrofoiloperators. n

L E F T : Two of originally three

Båtservice SeaLord 28 catamaransintroduced in 1990–91 remain with

Stavangerske, Fjorddrott and Fjordbris.The third has since been sold to OVDSin north Norway /PÅL R SKJOLD photo


Emeraude Jersey Ferries has leased Incat74m wavepiercing catamaran SeaCat Francefrom Sea Containers. Originally namedSeacat Tasmania, the vessel entered servicewith Tasmanian Ferry Services at the end of1990. Renamed Emeraude France, the 430passenger 80 car vessel is scheduled to beintroduced on Emeraude Jersey Ferries' St.Malo, France–St. Helier, Jersey route onFebruary 10. Emeraude France will be replacing anotherIncat 74m wavepiercer, Emeraude GB, whichthe company has been chartering from SeaContainers since last April. The first 74mwavepiercer built by InternationalCatamarans Tasmania and launched asChristopher Columbus, this originally enteredservice with Hoverspeed betweenPortsmouth and Cherbourg as HoverspeedGreat Britain in August 1990. The lease of Emeraude GB came aboutafter Emeraude's own Fjellstrand JumboCat60 catamaran Solidor 5, delivered four yearsago, was trapped in a shipyard in Cherbourgfor an indefinite period due a legal disputelast winter, and its other vessel, WestamarinW5000CF Aline, had to be pulled out ofservice for mechanical reasons. Founded in 1904 as Bateux de la Côte

d'Emeraude and more recently known asEmeraude Ferries, the French operator wasacquired in late 2003 by the SogestranGroup following financial struggles andrenamed Emeraude Jersey Ferries. In late 1986 Emeraude took over the fastcatamaran service between France and theChannel Islands that had been operated byanother French company since 1976 in

competition with Guernsey-based Condor'shydrofoils. Over the years Emeraude hasoperated a number of passenger catamaransbuilt in Norway and Sweden by Wester-moen Hydrofoil/Westamarin and Marin-teknik, none of which remains with thecompany. M O R E

EMERAUDE JERSEY FERRIES LEASES ANOTHER INCAT 74m

R I G H T :Emeraude Jersey

Ferries' leased Incat74m Emeraude GB

berthed at St. Malo ona September morning

last year .../DAVIS HOUSTON photo

B O T T O M :...and the craft

alongside togetherwith competitor

Condor Ferries' Incat74m Condor 10 (at

right)/MATTHEW SUDDERS

photo

A B O V E : Fjel lstrand JumboCat 60 Solidor 5 idl ing at Quai de Normandie inCherbourg last Apri l /JACQUES LEGANGNEUX photo


The first vehicle fast ferry, a Corsaire6000 monohull, since likewise sold off,entered service in 1994. For a detailed company history, see theJanuary 2003 CLASSIC FAST FERRIES. Also operating an Incat 74m wave-piercer between the Channel Islands andSt. Malo since some time is CondorFerries, which has allocated Condor 10,delivered to the company in 1993, to theroute. n

As this issue closed for press... The leased Incat 74m

wavepiercing catamaran SeaCat France alongside Dover's Cruise Terminal onFebruary 1, preparing for the posit ioning trip to St.Malo/the Channel Islands.

The new name, Emeraude France, has yet to be applied to the craft. Alsointeresting to note is that the company name on the hull spells Emeraude

Ferries (which of course was the operator's previous name before theSogestran take-over) and not in fact Emeraude Jersey Ferries

/MIKE FRANCIS photo

A new fast ferry service between Norwayand Denmark that has been in thebrewing for some time got a step closer tofruition at the end of January. The company, Jetlink, formed in March2004, initially intended to introduce aleased Incat 78m wavepiercing catamaranbetween Moss and Frederikshavn inSeptember. However, the process tooklonger than anticipated and the start-update was pushed to, first, November andthen December, in time for the Christmasholiday traffic, and now is planned forMarch. The service probably could havegotten underway in January, but since thisis definitely low season in Scandinavia

there was no need to force theinauguration it was felt. The 78mwavepiercer, Elanora, whichhad been laid up in south England since2002, departed Weymouth on itspositioning trip to Denmark at 1300 onJanuary 25 and arrived at Frederikshavnat 2300 on the 26th. Approximately twothirds of the journey were spent travelingat around 20 knots and the last third at anaverage of 33 knots. The vessel did not

call at any ports en route. Elanora, to be renamed Jetlink Express, isscheduled for drydocking at the Ørskovshipyard in Frederikshavn in mid-February. No major work on thewavepiercer should be necessary thoughas its four main engines and waterjetswere overhauled not long ago, and thevessel has not seen any regular servicesince. With a scheduled journey time of 4hours 15 minutes, one daily round trip byJetlink Express will be operated leavingMoss at 0945 and returning fromFrederikshavn at 1700. n

JETLINK TO INTRODUCE INCAT 78m IN SCANDINAVIA

Incat 78m wavepiercing catamaranElanora in Frederikshavn on January 27/ LARS PETTER HELMINSEN photo


JADROLINIJA ACQUIRES TWO MORE 41m CATAMARANS

HELLENIC SEAWAYS... C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 2

The first catamaran, a KværnerFjellstrand Flying Cat 40m, joined the Sovietbuilt hydrofoils in 1991. In 1997 threeRodriquez RHS 160F hydrofoils wereacquired in Italy and Spain, and a secondcatamaran built in Australia by Austal Shipsentered service the following year. Also in 1998 it was announced thateffective from 1999 the fast ferry

operations of Ceres Hydrofoil, asubsidiary of Ceres Hellenic Shipping, andMinoan Lines Highspeed Ferries were tomerge and trade as Minoan FlyingDolphins. At the time the sole fast ferryoperated by Minoan Lines HSF was aRoyal Schelde CAT 70HL vehicle/passenger catamaran. However, its parentcompany, Minoan Lines, acquired a 70%

holding in MFD, whereas Ceres wasresponsible for the day-to-day operationand maintenance of the vessels. A newattractive blue, white and red colorscheme replaced the less sophisticatedyellow and blue livery on the formerCeres craft. The brand name was again changed in2001, to Hellas Flying Dolphins. n

Croatian state-owned ferry companyJadrolinija, based in Rijeka, continues toexpand its fast ferry fleet and recentlyacquired two more Marinteknik 41mcatamarans from the Philippine Fast FerryCorporation for a reported US $2,8million. The vessels, SuperCat 3 and SuperCat 7,were built in Singapore by FBM Marin-teknik/Marinteknik Shipbuilders in 1989and 1990 and originally entered service inHong Kong with Hongkong MacaoHydrofoil. In 1994 HMH was taken overby CTS-Parkview Ferry Services whichformed a joint venture with Filipino ferry

operator Aboitiz Shipping on which thecatamarans, along with five more 41CPVs, were transferred to the Philippinesduring 1995–96. In their present configurations SuperCat3 accomodates 308 passengers andSuperCat 7 slightly more, 324. Both have aservice speed of 28–30 knots. The vesselshave yet to be shipped from Manila butwill arrive in Croatia in time for the touristhigh season. The previous pair of 41 CPVs purchasedby Jadrolinija, Dubravka and Judita, camefrom the same source and entered servicewith the company in 2001. It has already

been decided that one of the newcatamarans will be deployed betweenRijeka and the island of Pag. In addition to the above, the companyowns four catamarans, all of whichpurchased from other operators; a W86and W95 built in Norway in 1978 and1981, a WaveMaster 34m built in 1990 inAustralia and a Flying Cat 40m built atKværner Fjellstrand's Singapore yard in1992. The catamarans are operated on avast route network between numerousports on the mainland and in the Dalmatiaarchipelago. The majority of services areseasonal. n

Marinteknik 41m catamaran Judita is one of two acquired by Jadrolini ja in the Phil ippines in 2001 / NEVEN JERKOVIC photo


s reported elsewhere in this issue,Hellas Flying Dolphins was recentlyrenamed Hellenic Seaways and thenumber of hydrofoils operated by thecompany is falling. However, another newname appeared on the Greek fast ferryscene last year – and this operator plansto add to its hydrofoil fleet. Not previously reported on in CFF,Vospo Dolphins was formed with the aimof strengthening sea transportationbetween Volos on the mainland and theislands in the North Sporades. TwoKometa hydrofoils, Alonissos Dolphin andSkiathos Dolphin, purchased from anotherGreek operator, entered service on June13, 2004. The company expects tointroduce two more hydrofoils in the nearfuture in order to add more services anddestinations. There are two daily round trips Volos–Alonissos, except on Saturday, leavingVolos at either 0630 or 0730 and 1430or 1530, and Alonissos at 0700 (0800 onSunday) and 1330 (1500 on Sunday). OnSaturday only the morning departurefrom Alonissos and afternoon servicefrom Volos are operated. Services call atSkiathos, Glossa and Skopelos and certainat Trikeri and N. Trikeri. Trip times Volos–Alonissos varybetween 2 hours 30 minutes and 2 hours55 minutes depending on the number ofintermediate stops.

A B O V E : A new hydrofoil operator, Vospo Dolphins,

introduced a pair of Kometas between the Greek mainlandand North Sporades last June. Alonissos Dolphin is seen

here in Volos prior to the inauguration of the service,on May 20...

/ NIKOS THRYLOS photoB E L O W : ... and Skiathos Dolphin reversing from the

berth at Skiathos/ VOSPO DOLPHINS photo


DOWN,ONE TO GO

ONE MORER H S 7 0 :

With the withdrawalfrom service last

November of RHS70 Freccia delle Betulle,

there is now onlyone of the small

hydrofoils still activeon Lake Como – or

indeed on any of thethree major lakes in

northern Italy.

twelve of the smaller 72–80 seat PT.20and RHS 70 hydrofoils were ordered from Rodriquezby Italy's Ministry of Transport and introduced by therespective operating company on the Lakes of Como,Garda and Maggiore between 1958 and 1976. Thevessels were evenly distributed, i.e. each lake originallyreceived two PT.20s and two RHS 70s, however, a fewof them were later transferred between lakes. The PT.20s of course were designed by and builtunder license to Supramar of Switzerland, whereasRodriquez was responsible for the restyled and modifiedRHS 70 type, the first of which appeared in 1972. Witha length overall of 22.2m, the well-proportioned andstylish RHS 70 was 1.45m longer than the standardversion of its predecessor. However, the dimensions ofthe superstructure and general layout of theaccomodation areas remained more or less the same.

A total of

B E L O W : RHS 70 Freccia dei Gerani is the last of the breed sti l l in revenue service on the Italian lakes,

but probably not for very much longer. Originally delivered to Navigazione Lago di Garda in 1977, it wastransferred to Lake Como in 1993

/ MARCELLO BALDRATI photo


Powerwise the RHS 70 was fitted withan MTU 12 V 493 TY71 diesel,developing 1,350 hp at 1,500 rpm, inplace of a 12-cylinder Mercedes–Benz Mb820 DB with a maximum output of 1,100hp at 1,400 rpm in the PT.20. Draft wasreduced to 2.70m in hullborne and1.15m in foilborne mode as opposed to3.08m and 1.40m respectively on thestandard PT.20. Like its forerunner, the RHS 70 wasideal for short-distance multi-stopcommuter routes and as an alternative tomore slow-moving traditional ships, orindeed road congestion, for tourists andothers wishing to spend their time on thedestination rather than transportation. Even so, a total of only eleven werecompleted before the model wasdiscontinued, all but one in Messina. Theone which was not was built in SouthKorea by Hyundai Heavy Industries for alocal customer in 1984. One of the reasons for the relativelysmall number of RHS 70s being orderedmay be found in the fact that of thenearly 70 PT.20s (of two considerablydifferent variants) that were delivered byyards in Italy, Japan, Norway andSingapore from 1956 onwards, manywere still utilized well into the 90s. Somelater still, as, for instance, on the lakes innorthern Italy where the last of the typewas withdrawn as recently as in 2001 andscrapped in September 2003. Indeed, a few PT.20s continue to be inworking order although they may not seedaily service.

The six RHS 70s for the Italian

lakes were delivered 1974–77. Three,Freccia delle Camelie, Freccia delle Betulle andFreccia del Benaco, entered service in 1974with Navigazione Lago Maggiore, Naviga-zione Lago di Como and Navigazione Lagodi Garda – the company names of whichwere recently simplified to Navimaggiore,Navicomo and Navigarda. The second craftto each of the operators, Freccia delleMagnolie, Freccia delle Gardenie and Freccia

Silhouetted against abeautiful backdrop,Freccia delle Betullethinks back on theyears on a lovelyLake Como afternoonlast month/ MARCELLO BALDRATIphoto

... and taking off insomewhat more

carefree days/ MARCELLO BALDRATI

photo


dei Gerani, followed in 1975, 1976 and1977 respectively. With the introduction of catamarans onLake Garda in the early 1990s, the RHS70s became surplus to requirement andwere transferred to the other two lakes.Freccia dei Gerani thus went to Lake Comoin 1993 and Freccia del Benaco to LakeMaggiore the following year where it wasrenamed Freccia delle Ortensie. More catamarans have been introducedon all three lakes in recent years, allowingfor the ageing RHS 70s (and PT.20s) to bewithdrawn. The only RHS 70 still up andrunning as of February 2005 is Navicomo'sFreccia dei Gerani, with Freccia delle Gardenieand Freccia delle Betulle having beenscrapped and retired respectively inNovember 2003 and November 2004.

Of the three Maggiore craft only Frecciadelle Magnolie still exists to some extent.Withdrawn several moons ago, it continuesto be laid up at Arona with the foils etc.having been removed. Freccia delle Camelieand Freccia delle Ortensie were finallybroken up last year following their floodingat Arona in 2001. In addition to the single RHS 70 and themotley collection of catamarans of variousbuild, size and shape on the three lakes, allsix of the larger RHS 150SL and three RHS150FL hydrofoils delivered by Rodriquez1980–89 remain in service.

The four non-Lake RHS 70s

built in Messina were all ordered by UKoperator Red Funnel for its cross-Solent

The first RHS 70introduced on LakeMaggiore, in 1974, wasFreccia delle Camelie/ ANTONIO SCRIMALIphoto

Freccia delBenaco in

Peschiera in1992. It entered

service withNavigazione

Lago di Gardain 1974

/ TIM TIMOLEONphoto


service. The first, Shearwater 3, enteredservice between Southampton and Cowes,Isle of Wight in 1972, followed byShearwater 4 one year later, Shearwater 5 in1980 and Shearwater 6 in 1982. Much as with the Italian lake operatorsand others, in the early 1990s Red Funnelbegan replacing its hydrofoils withcatamarans. In 1993 the two oldest RHS70s were sold in Greece and introduced inthe Cyclades by Hermes Hydrofoils. Theyappear to have seen very limited servicehere however. Also around this time thethen 10–12 years old Shearwater 5 andShearwater 6 received a complete refit.

These were laid up at Cowes in 1999 andfinally sold in Thailand in September threeyears later, where – amazingly – they weretaken under their own power. Following refurbishing in Langkawi,Malaysia, the vessels, renamed Flyer 1 andFlyer 2, entered service with Phuket FlyingBoats on tourist trips and as feeders to off-shore diving boats in Thailand in 2003. Oneof them was heavily damaged by theTsunami on December 26, 2004 and mostlikely will not be rebuilt, and the future forthe other is currently being discussed bythe owners. n

B E L O W : The

remains of NavimaggiorePT.20 Freccia del Ticino

and RHS 70s Frecciadelle Magnolie and

Freccia delle Ortensie atArona in December 2003.

Freccia delle Magnoliewas sti l l to be found in this

spot last month, but noplans of preserving it has

been confirmed/ MARCELLO BALDRATI

photo

Freccia delle Gardenieentered service on LakeComo in 1976. It wasscrapped twenty-sevenyears later, inNovember 2003/ TIM TIMOLEON photo


SHOTOFTHEMONTH

All-over advertising on publictransit vehicles such as trams,

buses and trains has beenknown for ages. But it is only

as of late that the idea hasbeen adopted by fast ferry

operators. Such as in Greece,where the catamarans

belonging to Hellas FlyingDolphins (or Hellenic Seaways,

as the company was officiallyrenamed last month) have

been repainted and becomefloating high-speed ads for a

well knowntelecommunications networkcompany. Without siding withVodafone or taking a stand on

whether large-scaleadvertising is good or bad,there are few colors bettermatching – or should it be

standing out from – the bluesea and maritime environment

than red.

A view with a feeling. Hellas Flying Dolphins FBM Marine TriCat 45m and 53m catamaransFlyingcat 3 and Flyingcat 4 in Mykonos in September last year (above). The advertiser'sname (below) was however painted out prior to the 2004 Olympics in Athens

/ NIKOS THRYLOS photo, both

The color red

Documents

Classic Fast Ferries · 2012. 10. 19. · 4 CLASSIC FAST FERRIES 2 / 2005 Emeraude Jersey Ferries has leased Incat 74m wavepiercing catamaran SeaCat France from Sea Containers. Originally