New Austal ferry piques Asian interest

Austal's second generation high speed trimaran ferry is attracting interest in Taiwan and China due to its high degree of suitability for operation across the Taiwan Strait, the Australia-based shipbuilder said.

The 102-metre vehicle-passenger ferry is currently under construction at Austal's Australian shipyard and is available for purchase.

As the only high speed vehicle ferry that has been designed primarily for seakeeping and passenger comfort, the trimaran is extremely well suited to these routes, which are well known for their challenging sea conditions.

The vessel has a speed of 39 knots, a passenger and cargo capacity of 700 tonnes maximum deadweight and will be ready for delivery in February 2010.

The vessel is capable of making the 110 nautical mile route from Fuzhou to Taipei in under three hours or the 125 nautical mile route from Fuzhou to Keelung in three hours and 17 minutes. Alternatively, the ferry can make the 130 nautical mile route from Xiamen to Taichung in three hours and 25 minutes and the 160 nautical mile route from Xiamen to Kaohsiung in approximately four hours.