Australian aluminium shipbuilder Austal has unveiled its largest ever Ro-Pax catamaran. The vessel, measuring 113 metres in length, was towed out of the shed at its shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia.
At around 20 metres longer than a standard soccer pitch and weighing around 1,000 tonnes, the vessel will be able to hold up to 1,400 passengers and 357 cars when complete and travel at speeds of up to 40 knots. The vessel is the heaviest Austal has ever built weighing slightly more than the 127-metre trimaran 'Benchijigua Express' delivered to Fred. Olsen in 2005.
Due to the enormous scale of the ship, the upper deck, which has been constructed as a separate "super unit" had to be fitted after the vessel left the fabrication hall. The "super unit" weighs in at over 170 tonnes, which is more then the total aluminium weight of two 47.5-metre vessels also currently under construction.
Austal started joining the two parts together on December 10. This began in the early hours of the morning with the lifting of the "super unit". The rest of the vessel was then towed from the fabrication hall and positioned beneath the "super unit".
The delicate process of lowering the unit and aligning it with the main structure was successfully completed just a few hours after the challenging operation began.
The ship, which is bound for Denmark in mid 2011, will be utilised as a Ro-Pax ferry linking Denmark and Sweden, operated by Nordic Ferry Services.
Disclosure: Members of the Baird family or companies in the Baird Publications group own shares in Austal.
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