The latest delivery from Australian shipbuilder Incat Tasmania, 'Akane', an 85-metre high speed Wave Piercing Catamaran Ferry, is to arrive in Japan in early April.
Built at the Incat shipyard at Prince of Wales Bay in Hobart, the vessel was sea trialled in late March, and has departed Hobart on her delivery voyage. The vessel will go into service in April with Sado Kisen, a long-standing ferry operator in Japan.'Akane' will operate from the Niigata and Naoetsu ports on the west coast of Japan to the Sado Island ports of Ogi and Ryotsu. Sado Island is the sixth largest island of Japan in area, its rich history and relaxed rural atmosphere make Sado one of the major tourist destinations in the Niigata Prefecture.
Sado Kisen currently operate a conventional fleet, however, Incat built 'Akane' will be Sado Kisen's first high-speed passenger and car carrier.
The 85-metre vessel has a capacity of 692 persons on a single passenger level and the vehicle deck can carry a combination of trucks and cars or, in car only mode, with the nine hoistable mezzanine decks used it will carry 151 cars.
