Classic Fast Ferries · nCOPYRIGHT 2000/2004 CLASSIC FAST FERRIES. COVER PHOTO : CATAMARANS IDLING IN IBIZA EARLIER THIS YEAR, FJELLSTRAND 38.8m FORMENTERA JET AND WESTAMARAN 95 RÁPIDO

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CLASSIC FERRIES

w w w . c l a s s i c f a s t f e r r i e s . c o m

Balearic Islands update

22 CLASSIC FAST FERRIES 6 / 2004

NEWS AND ARTICLES ABOUT CIVIL HYDROFOILS, HOVERCRAFT & CATAMARANS n EDITOR/PUBLISHER : TIM TIMOLEON n ALL ARTICLES, LAYOUT & ARTWORK PRODUCTION, EXCEPTWHERE NOTED : TIM TIMOLEON n PUBLISHED IN PDF FORMAT nWWW.CLASSICFASTFERRIES.COM n SUBMITTALS OF MANUSCRIPTS AND PHOTOS, OLD ANDNEW, AND RELEVANT NEWS ITEMS ARE ENCOURAGED! n EMAIL TO : CFF @ EMAIL.DK n COPYRIGHT 2000/2004 CLASSIC FAST FERRIES.COVER PHOTO : CATAMARANS IDLING IN IBIZA EARLIER THIS YEAR, FJELLSTRAND 38.8mFORMENTERA JET AND WESTAMARAN 95 RÁPIDO DE MENORCA / DAVE LOYDALL photo

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CLASSIC FERRIES

An era came to a close in mid-September whenthe last two Jetfoil hydrofoils in service with aEuropean operator were withdrawn and put onthe market. Built in Japan by Kawasaki Heavy Industriesunder license to Boeing Marine Systems in theUSA, the Jetfoil 929–117s, Princesa Dacil andPrincesa Teguise, had been operated by Spanishoperator Trasmediterránea in the Canary Islandssince 1990 and 1991. For the past four yearshowever the passenger-only service offered byTrasmediterránea in the shape of the Jetfoils hadlived on borrowed time as it faced increasingcompetition from large fast vehicle ferriesintroduced by Naviera Armas and Fred. Olsen. But Jetfoils had been in the Canary Islands forconsiderably longer than this. A leased vessel ofthe first generation 929–100 Jetfoil appeared inthe area already in 1980 as the BMS demon-strator Flying Princess, completed by the BoeingRenton, WA yard in 1976, was transferred southfrom a London–Oostende service and introducedby Trasmediterránea as Princesa Voladora. Thismaintained the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria toSanta Cruz de Tenerife route until the arrival, thefollowing year, of the company's own pair of

Block II BMS 929–115 Jetfoils Princesa Guayarmiaand Princesa Guacimara. With the introduction ofthe KHI craft the 929–115s were sold to Far EastHydrofoil in Hong Kong. Between 1988 and 2000 Trasmediterránea andan associate company also operated six surface-piercing hydrofoils in Gran Canaria and on otherroutes in Spain, including the Balearic Islands andacross the Straits of Gibraltar; one OrdzhonikidzeKolkhida and five Rodriquez RHS 160F hydrofoils,one of which leased from Aliscafi–SNAV. The current Trasmediterránea fast ferry fleetcomprises three Incat Tasmania wavepiercingcatamarans; one 96m, one Evolution 10 and oneEvolution 10B, as well as a pair of Bazán Mestralmonohulls, both of which are also available forpurchase. From 1977 to 2004 a total of 11 commercialJetfoils operated regular services in Europe. Thelast to disappear before Trasmediterránea decidedto withdraw theirs were two 929–115s operatedacross the English Channel between Belgium andthe UK for sixteen years 1981–1997. All activeJetfoils now are operating on domestic routes inJapan, between Korea and Japan and Hong Kongand Macau. n

C a n a r y I s l a n d s J e t f o i l s w i t h d r a w n

& D E V E L O P M E N T S

KHI Jetfoil 929–117Princesa Teguise, seenhere in Las Palmasearlier this year, hadbeen operated byTrasmediterránea in theCanary Islands forthirteen years when itwas withdrawn inSeptember/ODDGEIR REFVIK photo

CLASSIC FAST FERRIES 6 / 2004 33

One of the hovercraft classics, SR.N4Mark 2 Swift, has been scrapped by theHovercraft Museum in England. It wasbroken up over four weeks duringSeptember–October. Completed by British HovercraftCorporation in 1968, Swift enteredservice with Hoverlloyd across the Straitsof Dover between Ramsgate and Calais,France in April 1969. The original capacitywas for 254 passengers and 30 cars, thecar deck being down the central area withfull-width stern doors and a bow ramp forconvenient drive-on/drive-off, and with

The lastremaining

SR.N4 Mk 2hovercraftSwift was

scrapped inEngland

during fourweeks in

September–October

/WARWICKJACOBS photo

four passengers saloons, two inner andtwo outer, on either side. To meet with the increasing interest inthe service and future demand, fromSeptember 1972 to January 1973 Swiftwas back at the BHC to be upgraded fromMk 1 to Mk 2 standard. This meantdeleting the two inner passengers cabins inorder to provide more car space and theextension outboard of the superstructureto compensate for this and to add another28 seats, thus increasing total capacity to282 passengers and 37 vehicles. Eight years later, in October 1981, the

S R . N 4 M k 2 S w i f t s w e p t a w a y

two companies having operated largehovercraft and competed about the high-speed market between the UK and Francesince the late 60s, British Rail/Seaspeed andHoverlloyd, joined forces and becameHoverspeed. Swift operated withHoverspeed on the Dover–Calais andDover–Boulogne routes for the next tenyears and made its last revenue crossing onSeptember 29, 1991. During its 22-yearcareer with Hoverlloyd and HoverspeedSwift carried out more than 30,000 singlecross-Channel journeys. MORE

Swift parked at the Daedalus site at Lee-on-Solent in May 2000,still sporting the Hoverspeed livery it had when withdrawn in 1991.

The original Hoverlloyd paint scheme was reapplied to the crafttwo years ago /MARTIN GRIMM photo


CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

In 1994 the SR.N4 was donated byHoverspeed to the Hovercraft Museumand taken to the Daedalus site at Lee-on-Solent. At the time of the donation thecraft had had its propulsion systemdisconnected and was hovered on twoengines and towed from Dover, where ithad been laid up since its withdrawal fromservice in 1991, to its final destination.With the remaining two enginessubsequently also being removed byHoverspeed for use as spares for thecompany's pair of SR.N4 Mk 3 Super 4

hovercraft, Swift had been stored and usedas a static display outdoors since its arrivalat Lee. Only two years ago the hovercraftwas repainted in its original Hoverlloydcolor scheme. The decision by the Hovercraft MuseumTrust to scrap Swift was made in the lightof the fact that it had to reduce onexpenditure for maintaining and upgradingthe craft and that the Museum is likely totake ownership of at least one of theSuper 4s still owned by Hoverspeed. Thetwo SR.N4 Mk 3s, The Princess Anne andThe Princess Margaret, both of which madetheir last scheduled crossings on the

Dover–Calais route on October 1, 2000and have been laid up at Lee-on-Solentsince December that year, are completeand in a far better state of repair thanSwift, which had never been fullyoverhauled and rebuilt like the Mk 3s. The control cabin of Swift has beensaved by the Museum as have seats andtrim, which are typical 1970s style, andwill be on display to visitors. Swift was the last existing Mark 2 hover-craft of four, the other three having beenwithdrawn in 1983 and 1991 andscrapped in 1983, 1993 and 1998. n

Less than a fortnight after the last SR.N4Mk 2 Mountbatten Class Swift had leftBritish soil and gone to hovercraft heavenone of the last operational SR.N6Winchester Class craft arrived back inEngland after many years abroad. Launched as an SR.N6 Mk 1, the craft

entered service with Hoverlloyd on thefirst international hovercraft service acrossthe English Channel in April 1966 as Sure. It was rebuilt into a Mk 6 in 1973 andused as a demonstrator by BHC for manyyears. In 1989 it was purchased byEurosense-Belfotop in Belgium having

been converted by Hoverwork and AirVehicles for use on a hydrographic surveyin the Zeebrugge area. The twin-prop craft, Beasac III, which isnow privately owned, departed Zee-brugge under its own power at 1000 onNovember 1, arriving at Dover, viaDunkirk, in the afternoon. Spending thenight here, the refuelled vessel left Doverwith a crew of four the next morning at1100 for Lee-on-Solent where it arrivedat 1530. The Channel crossing was in 3m seas, animposing top speed of 48 knots wasachieved by the nearly 40-year oldhovercraft off Hastings on November 2. The Hovercraf Museum intends to keepthe Mk 6 in an operational state, allowingdemonstration runs to be given at futureOpen Days and the annual Hovershow atthe Museum at Lee. It is also possible thecraft will be displayed at next year's RoyalInternational Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford,at which the Museum has already beeninvited to present a collection of craft andother historical items in celebration of 40years of the hovercraft in commercialservice. n

. . . a n d a n S R . N 6 r e t u r n s t o t h e U K

SR.N6 Mk 6Beasac III returned

to the UK earlierthis month. At rightthe hovercraft has

just arrived at Doverin the afternoon on

November 1, andbelow it is seen

departing Dover forLee-on-Solent the

next morning/MIKE FRANCIS

photo, both


Nearing completion at the Fjellstrand yardat Omastrand on November 7 was one oftwo FlyingCat 46 catamarans ordered byNorwegian operator Troms Fylkes D/S. The contract for the order, valued atapproximately NOK 150 millionFjellstrand reports, was announced inJanuary and the vessels are due fordelivery at the end of this year and thebeginning of next. The catamarans, whichare identical, will have 350 seats and aservice speed of 36.5 knots. They willfeature forward view from both passenger

decks and deck-to-ceiling windows in aconference room/business class lounge afton the upper deck, a cafeteria and achildren's play area. Length overall is45.2m and beam 11.5m and the vesselswill be powered by four diesel engines andwaterjets, the specifics of which are yet tobe revealed. The new FlyingCat 46s will enter serviceon TFDS's Tromsø–Finnsnes–Harstadroute in northern Norway, currently withan annual traffic of 200,000 passengers,replacing a Kværner Fjellstrand FlyingCat

40m, Fjordkongen, and Båtservice SeaLord38 catamaran, Fjorddronningen, deliveredin 1994 and 1995, cutting travel time by20 minutes to 2 hours and 30 minutes. Also in the Fjellstrand order book at themoment are two FlyingCat 46s forCompagnie Yeu in western France and aFlyingCat 40m for SPM Express in SaintPierre & Miquelon, off the south coast ofNewfoundland, Canada. Correcting theinfo given in our October issue, thereported contract value for the latterorder is €6.5 million. n

F l y i n g C a t 4 6 c a t a m a r a n s s o o n t o b e d e l i v e r e d t o T F D S

Artist's impression ofthe Fjellstrand

FlyingCat 46catamarans ordered

by TFDS/FJELLSTRAND photo

. . . and the realthing at Omastrandearlier this month/ KIM ANDREEIKENES photo

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A contract for two 45m catamarans to bedelivered in October 2005 was signed latelast month between Australian fast ferrybuilder Austal and L'Express des Iles,based in Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe. One of the catamarans will be apassenger-only vessel with 446 seats andthe other a passenger/car fast ferrycarrying 360 passengers and 10 cars. Bothwill be fitted with four MTU 16V 396TE74L diesels and Kamewa 63 SIIwaterjets and have a full load servicespeed og 38 knots. Austal's Managing Director Mr BobMcKinnon said the company wasextremely proud of the track record ofsecuring repeat business, Austal reports."While there are numerous instances ofoperators turning to us after intitiallyoperating fast ferries built by othershipyards, the reverse situation is virtuallyunheard of. This reflects the extremelyhigh level of satisfaction with both thevessels we build and the service weprovide our customer", McKinnon said.And he continued by saying, "While weare successfully growing our defence-related business, we have sufficientproduction capacity to continue to meetthe demand generated by the commercialvessel sector. The fact that we have signedsizeable contracts for three fast ferrieswithin the last month is indicative of ourongoing competitiveness in this keymarket".

The other new contract referred to isfor an Auto Express 67 catamaran forVirtu Ferries in Malta, the order of whichwas made official at the end ofSeptember. This vessel will carry 600passengers and 65 cars or 35 cars + 10TIR trucks or coaches and is due fordelivery next May and will operate year-round between Malta and Sicily. Established in 1987 trading as AntillesTrans Express and initially operating aMarinteknik Verkstads catamaran built inSweden in 1984, the current fast ferry

fleet of L'Express des Iles comprises fourcatamarans. Two of these were deliveredby Austal in 1998, a 40m passenger-onlycatamaran, Opale Express, and an AutoExpress 48, Jade Express, able to carry 10cars and 329 passengers. The two otherswere built by Marinteknik Shipbuilders inSingapore in 1995–96, the 395-seat 42mcatamaran Turquoise Express and 445-seat45m Rubis Express. The company operatesboth domestic and international routesout of Guadeloupe to the other islands inthe Lesser Antilles. n

A u s t a l t o b u i l d t w o 4 5 m c a t a m a r a n s f o r G u a d e l o u p e o p e r a t o r

T O P + A B O V E : The two Austal 45m catamarans ordered by L'Express des Iles inGuadeloupe, due for delivery in October next year. The differences on the superstructure aftreflects the fact that one of the catamarans will carry 10 cars in addition to its 360-passengercapacity, while the other is a passenger-only vessel fitted out with 446 seatsB E L O W : The Auto Express 67 ordered by Virtu Ferries in Malta in September. Able tocarry 600 passengers and 65 cars, this is expected to enter service between Malta and Sicilynext May /A l l t h r e e p r o f i l e d r a w i n g s : AUSTAL


F o r e i g n c a t a m a r a n s i n f o r e i g n p l a c e s

As reported in our last issue, Hellas Flying Dolphinshas purchased the pair of Kværner FjellstrandFlyingCat 40m catamarans Hanse Jet and HanseJet II previously operated by Ferrys Rápidos del Suracross the Straits of Gibraltar and Förde ReedereiSeetouristik in Germany. Renamed Flyingcat 5 andFlyingcat 6, the catamarans left southern Spain andnorthern Germany respectively for Greece undertheir own power. In the above picture Flyingcat 5 is seen at Messinaon November 3. The vessel called at the Orange

City for provisions and refuelling on its postitioningtrip from Tarifa to Piraeus where it should havearrived by the time this issue is published. Flyingcat 6 departed Cuxhaven already on October12 and was captured three days later pausing inDen Helder, the Netherlands (below ). The twovessels are expected to be introduced by HFD earlynext year linking the mainland port of Volos and theislands of Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonnisos in theNorth Sporades. n

PIETER INPIJN photo

ENZO ANNUARIO photo


A B O V E + R I G H T :Profile drawing and impression of

the Rodriquez 37m fullysubmerged hydrofoil, now under

construction/RODRIQUEZ CANTIERI NAVALI

photo, both

F u l l y s u b m e r g e d h y d r o f o i l s b e i n g d e v e l o p e d a n d b u i l t b y R o d r i q u e z

Rodriquez has revealed details about itsnew fully submerged hydrofoil concept,nicknamed Alirivoluzionario. Over the last two years Rodriquez hasheaded a research program developing anew and efficient hydrofoil design withfully submerged foils. Financed byMinistero della Ricerca, the Italian Ministryof Research, the project includes researchinto and the design and construction oftwo full-scale prototypes, each with adifferent propulsion system. In charge of the design of the innovativecraft has been Ing. Alcide Sculati,Managing Director of RodriquezEngineering, which is the research anddevelopment centre of the RodriquezGroup. Focus has been set on developinga new hydrofoil with a fully submerged foilsystem in order to reduce sensitivitytowards adverse sea states, thusimproving ride quality, at the same timeincreasing the vessel's overall efficiency.Up till now Rodriquez of course hassuccessfully been building surface piercinghydrofoils of various size and shape inMessina since 1956. Currently inproduction is the 31.2m, 38-knot 240-passenger Foilmaster, five of which havebeen delivered since 1994. One more willenter service with Siremar in the next fewweeks, and another seven are underconstruction and on order, with UsticaLines having taken options on anadditional four vessels.

Each of the twin-deck fully submergedprototypes, the construction of whichcommenced earlier this year, will have alength overall of 37m and be powered bya pair of MTU 16V 4000 M70 diesels andcarry 280 passengers. A maximum speedof 50 knots is expected to be achieved. One of the vessels will be fitted withtraditional shafts connected to fixed pitchpropellers and the other with special dual-propeller Z-drives with carbon fibreshafts, developed by Rodriquez MarineSystem. The craft will have an electronic controlsystem for the foil surfaces which incorp-orates the stabilization and directionalcontrol equipment, and a great deal ofattention is being paid to the shapes anddimensions of the hull appendages andpropulsion system. Stability will beensured by trailing flaps placed on the foilswhich in turn will be electronicallycontrolled. The system will have sufficientredundancy to provide maximum safetyand allow the hydrofoil to remain foil-borne even in the event of the mechanicalfailure of a single component. In order to optimize the propulsionsystem over the vessels' completeoperating range, including in hullborne and

foilborne modes and during take-off, thegearboxes will be two-speed units. Firstgear will allow for the vessel to reach thespeed required for take-off when the hullcomes free of the water whilst notoverloading the engines. Second gear willallow the engine power and vessel speedto be ideally matched while cruising athigh speed. The fully-submerged hydrofoil designnow presented is ideal for mediumdistances, Rodriquez reports. Also, thanksto the very low wash generated it isperfect for environmentally sensitivewaters and/or inshore routes near coastalcities of a certain size where an alternativeto congested road or rail transportationwould be needed. This is not the first time Rodriquezdevelops – and builds – a hydrofoil that isdifferent from the rest which the yard hasbecome known for. In 1991 the Messinaworks launched the Maximum EfficiencyCraft, MEC, and although featuring surfacepiercing foils, this was an interesting andunique design in many ways. A laterversion with fully submerged foils wasplanned but never eventuated. Moreabout this can be read in the May andOctober 2003 CLASSIC FAST FERRIES. n


The new Foilmaster hydrofoil for Siremar, Antioco , the second to enterservice with the operator, was ready to go into the water for the first time in

Messina on November 9 / ANTONIO DONATO photo

General arrangement and profile view of the Rodriquez 37m fully submerged hydrofoil/RODRIQUEZ CANTIERI NAVALI photo, both


As long as

Tourism came to the Balearic Islands before fast ferries did. Since some fifteen years however fast ferries have come and gone in the area; in fact, some that came still did not leave, and these days visitors and fast ferries are dependable on one another to a great extent. However, while the tourist industry would probably survive without the fast ferries, the reverse is more unlikely. Indeed, fast ferries have become part of everyday life to many residents also and so would not alltogether disappear, but without the tourists the number of vessels operating within the archipelago as well as to/from mainland Spain undoubtedly would drop.

there's aand a moon

B A L E A R I C I S L A N D S R E V I S I T E D

DAVE LOYDALL photo


ince our last report well over two years ago, the Balearic Islands of Ibiza and Formentera are where they used to be –as are most of the catamarans featuredthen. But there has been some changes,and this time we also take a look at someof the development in the two other majorislands in the Baleares, Mallorca andMenorca, in recent years. It is interesting to note that all eight ofthe passenger-only catamarans currently inthe area were built in Norway by Wester-moen Hydrofoil/Westamarin andFjellstrand and originally entered servicewith other operators outside the Balearicsbetween 1974 and 1987.

I B I Z A – F O R M E N T E R ABaleária, which was formed in 1998 by agroup of executives, captains and officers ofFlebasa Lines, continues to operate its pairof formerly Norwegian and ItalianWestamaran 95 catamarans Rápido deFormentera and Rápido de Menorca betweenIbiza and La Savina in Formentera. Sincesome time the 11-nautical mile route isoperated jointly with Trasmapi which hasfour catamarans, however not in servicesimultaneously, W95s Ibiza Jet andTagomago Jet, acquired in Denmark in1993, and Fjellstrand 38.8m catamaransEivissa Jet and Formentera Jet previouslyoperated by Isnasa across the Straits ofGibraltar. During the summer months thisyear the two companies timetabled asmany as 30 departures on the 25–30-

minute crossing between 0730 and 2030.This dropped to ten round trips fromOctober 1 from which date two vesselswere scheduled to maintain the service,Rápido de Formentera and Formentera Jet.Craft are rotated however subject tomaintenance and annual overhaul. In addition to the fast ferries, which aremarketed as Linea Jet, Trasmapi andBaleária also operate medium-speedvessels, marketed as Linea Express, and aconventional ferry taking 35 and 60minutes on the route respectively.

P A G E 1 0 : A passenger/vehicle fast ferry was operated between Ibiza and Formentera by Baleária for the first time during the peakseason this year. Marinteknik Shipbuilders 63m catamaran Nixe is seen off Espalmador on September 22. . .B E L O W : . . . and Westamaran 95 Rápido de Formentera alongside at La Savina, Formentera / DAVE LOYDALL photo, both

Rápido de Menorca is one of two W95 catamaransowned by Baleária / DAVE LOYDALL photo


months. The third fast ferry operator in the area,Mediterranea Pitiusa, likewise continues tooperate its W95 catamaran Aigües deFormentera on the Ibiza–Formentera route.Last year a medium-speed monohull,Menorca Express, built in France andpreviously in service between Menorca andMallorca with Cape Balear was added.Since October 15, four daily round tripsare operated by the monohull as the W95,purchased from a French operator in 2000,is currently in drydock for engine overhaul.

B E L O W + B O T T O M : Half of Trasmapi's immaculately kept catamaran fleet in Formentera in June, former DanishWestamaran 95 Tagomago Jet from 1977 and Fjellstrand 38.8m Eivissa Jet, originally delivered to a Caribbean operator in 1986

/ DAVE LOYDALL photo, both

New in Ibiza and Formentera this seasonhowever was a Marinteknik 63mpassenger/vehicle fast catamaran, Nixe.Delivered by Marinteknik Shipbuilders inSingapore earlier in the summer, the 606-passenger 70-car catamaran wasintroduced by Baleária in August linking themainland port of Dénia and Ibiza andFormentera. Journey times for Dénia–Ibizais 2 hours and Ibiza–Formentera 30minutes. While a year-round service, thevehicle fast ferry does not operate theIbiza–Formentera leg during the winter


C A P E B A L E A RFurther north-east, another formerNorwegian Westamaran 95 is operatingbetween Menorca and Mallorca with CapeBalear. The company was formed in 1996and intially operated a leased 22.5m foilassisted catamaran, Menorca Jet, on touristexcursions. Better known as Sea Shuttle 1,the vessel had been launched by MKInternational in South Africa two yearsearlier. In September 1998 Cape Balear wasgranted a license to operate a regular

passenger service between Ciutadella,Menorca and Cala Ratjada, Mallorca and inNovember that year introduced MenorcaExpress, the 23.7m medium-speed monohullnow in service with Pitiusa. The following year the company chartereda FlyingCat 40m catamaran from Frenchoperator SMN, Locmaria, for a planned longroute linking Menorca and Barcelona. Thisfell through as a permit was not given by theauthorities and instead the catamaran wasput into service on the 1-hour Ciutadella–

T O P + B O T T O MMediterranea Pitiusa

operates a medium-speedmonohull, MenorcaExpress, and W95

catamaran, Aigües deFormentera, on the

Formentera–Ibiza route/ DAVE LOYDALL photo, both


Cala Ratjada route replacing MenorcaExpress which had suffered an enginefailure. The monohull was back on theroute in early 2001 and the FlyingCatreturned to France. A craft of a rather unusual design enteredservice with the company in 2001. A semi-wavepiercing catamaran, it had beenlaunched the previous year by IrisCatamarans in La Rochelle, France. The first of the type built, the twin-deckIris 6.2 is made up of four identicalpassenger cabin modules and a wheelhousemounted on a standard basic structureincluding two slender hulls. It has a lengthoverall of 42.8m, beam of 10.6m and ispowered by a pair of MTU 16V 4000 M70diesels and Lips LJ 76DL waterjets. The fullload service speed is 36 knots. The leased

346-seat vessel, Iris Jet, was operated byCape Balear for 18 months after which itwas returned to the builder. Since October2003 it has been chartered to a Turkishcompany and operating between Cyprusand Turkey. From May last year Cape Balear leasedone of Trasmapi's former DanishWestamaran 95s, Ibiza Jet. Then inNovember 2003 another W95, Rápido delPuerto, was transferred from southernSpain to the Ciutadella–Cala Ratjada route.Originally delivered to Norwegian operatorTroms Fylkes D/S as Tromsprinsen in 1981,the catamaran was acquired four years agoby Maresur and put into service on theshort 20-minute crossing of the Bay ofCádiz between El Puerto de Santa Maríaand Cádiz. Eight round trips were

W95 Rápido delPuerto was

transferred fromsouthern Spain to the

Balearics and theCiutadella–CalaRatjada route in

November last year/ CAPE BALEAR photo

Trasmapi'sWestamaran 95Ibiza Jet wasleased to CapeBalear in 2003/ JAIME PONS photo


initially operated on Monday–Friday butpassenger numbers were disappointinghowever and it was decided to repositionthe 200-seat vessel to the Balearics. Four services are operated by Rápido delPuerto on Monday, Wednesday and Friday–Sunday, leaving Ciutadella at 0730 and1830 and Cala Ratjada at 0900 and 2000.Scheduled journey time is one hour. Baleária is also present on the Mallorca–Menorca run but is using the port ofAlcùdia in Mallorca rather than CalaRatjada. Currently working the route isRodriquez TMV 84 Aquastradapassenger/vehicle fast monohull RamonLlull, delivered to the company last year.Trip time here is one hour also.

M A I N L A N D S E R V I C E SIn addition to, or extending beyond if you

wish, the inter-island services, Baleária aswell as formerly state-owned operatorTrasmediterránea operate fast ferries andconventional tonnage between Barcelona,Valencia and Dénia on mainland Spain andthe Balearics. For twelve months during 2001–02another company, Naviera UniversalEspañola, a subsidiary of the Hong KongParkview Group, traded betweenBarcelona, Alcùdia and Ciutadella. Marketing the service as Turbocat, aTriCat 53m twin-deck catamaran, UniversalMk 1, the second of the type built, wasdelivered by FBM Babcock Marine in theUK in July and introduced by NavieraUniversal on August 23. The 446-seat 42-knot vessel had a length overall of 56.5m,beam of 13m and was powered by fourMTU 16V 4000 M70s and four Kamewa63 SII waterjets and fitted with theMaritime Dynamics T-foil ride controlsystem. Scheduled journey time betweenthe mainland and Mallorca was 3 hours. However, services were subject to frequent cancellations, reportedly for mechanical reasons, and Turbocat closed down in early August 2002.

A catamaran with arather different

appearance, Iris Jet,operated between

Mallorca and Menorcawith Cape Balear in

2001–02/ JAIME PONS photo

Also in 2001 NavieraUniversal Españolaintroduced an FBMBabcock TriCat 53mcatamaran, UniversalMk 1, betweenmainland Spain andMallorca/Menorca/ JAIME PONS photo


Much earlier, in 1989, a company based in Valencia, Cats Line, took delivery of a pair of Kværner Fjellstrand 38.8m catamarans, Leopardo and Eyra. The 278-seat vessels were introduced on long routes between Vilanova, some 35 kilometers south of Barcelona, and Alcùdia and Ciutadella and from Javea south of Alicante to Formentera–Ibiza– Mallorca. They were later transferred to other routes in the Mediterranean before returning to Norway in 1993 and 1994 having been acquired by Fylkesbaatane i Sogn og Fjordane and Partrederiet Kystekspressen. The FSF vessel remains in Norway, whereas the other was sold in Croatia in March 2003. n

As long asthere's a

and a moon

I N T H E B A L E A R I C S 2 0 0 4 :

BALEÁRIA RÁPIDO DE FORMENTERA WESTAMARAN 95 | BUILT 1974 BALEÁRIA RÁPIDO DE MENORCA WESTAMARAN 95 | BUILT 1975 CAPE BALEAR RÁPIDO DEL PUERTO WESTAMARAN 95 | BUILT 1981 MEDITERRANEA PITIUSA AIGÜES DE FORMENTERA WESTAMARAN 95 | BUILT 1974 TRASMAPI IBIZA JET WESTAMARAN 95 | BUILT 1977 TRASMAPI TAGOMAGO JET WESTAMARAN 95 | BUILT 1977 TRASMAPI EIVISSA JET FJELLSTRAND 38.8M | BUILT 1986 TRASMAPI FORMENTERA JET FJELLSTRAND 38.8M | BUILT 1987

DAVE LOYDALL photo


Russian variety in Greece

s opposed to, for instance, the PT.50 hydrofoils built in Italy, Norway and Japan where hardly two craft looked exactly the same exteriorwise, the many Kometa hydrofoils designed and built in the former USSR are moredifficult to tell apart. Some people probably would go as far as to say that if you have seen one Kometa you haveseen them all. But although the Kometas may structurally be (almost) identical, cosmetically they can be refreshingly different.And new paint schemes seem to be popping up all the time with Greek operators, both established such and newor associate companies. For instance, last year Kiriacoulis Maritime Kometa Samos Flying Dolphin IV sported a mainly white with blueand red trim livery as seen in the photo above, taken in Kalymnos in June 2003, and in the view belowtaken at Piraues only last month, the vessel appears in an equallyattractive red/blue/white livery – assumingly an all-overadvertising. Also note the slightly differentspelling of the craft's name,Samos Flying Dolfin IV. Kiriacoulis Maritime,which headquartersin Alimos, Athens,has a fleet of eighthydrofoils whichit operates in theDodecanese andthe Saronic Gulf.n

CONSTANTINE DIMARAS photo

JONAS STRÖMBLAD photo


SHOTOFTHEMONTH

Prior to the vessels and operatorsmentioned in the Balearics survey on

page 10–16, Fletamentos Baleares SA– Flebasa – introduced a RodriquezRHS 140 hydrofoil, Rápido de Ibiza,

between mainland Spain and SanAntonio in western Ibiza in 1988 and

later between Ibiza town andFormentera.

The hydrofoil was originally deliveredto SRÖ in Sweden as Viggen in 1973

and put into service between Malmö,Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark, aroute jointly operated with its Danishcounterpart DSØ since 1965. It made

the positioning journey from Malmö toSpain under its own power in

November 1987. With the subsequentacquisition of catamarans, Rápido de

Ibiza was withdrawn and has been laidup in Mallorca for several years.

In addition, during the 1994 peakseason Flebasa operated W95 Rápido

de Menorca on the Ciutadella–CalaRatjada route and Rápido de Mallorca,

the second RHS 200 hydrofoil built,between Dénia and Mallorca/Ibiza.

A B O V E : The former Swedish RHS 140 Viggen operating in Spainwith Flebasa Expres as Rápido de Ibiza in 1988 ...

/ GERARDO FERRERO photo

B E L O W : ...and in its heyday on the Malmö–Copenhagen route/OLAV MOEN photo

Documents

Classic Fast Ferries · nCOPYRIGHT 2000/2004 CLASSIC FAST FERRIES. COVER PHOTO : CATAMARANS IDLING IN IBIZA EARLIER THIS YEAR, FJELLSTRAND 38.8m FORMENTERA JET AND WESTAMARAN 95 RÁPIDO