Australian shipbuilder Incat Tasmania has reported the successful deployment of a marine evacuation system (MES) installed on a new catamaran Ro-Pax ferry being built for Uruguayan operator Buquebus.
The deployment included three 22-metre inflatable evacuation slides, each connected to a 128-person open reversible liferaft, alongside an additional linked liferaft.
Once fully equipped, the ferry will feature six MES units and 13 linked liferafts, providing a total liferaft capacity of 2,432 people.
The MES deployment forms part of an extensive testing and commissioning program that will continue in the lead-up to the vessel’s delivery to South America.
The 130-metre ferry recently began undergoing harbour trials, during which it moved under its own battery-electric propulsion. Incat said the trials represented the first time a ship of this size and passenger-vehicle capacity has operated solely on battery power anywhere in the world.
Incat Chairman Robert Clifford said that moving the ferry under its own battery-electric power, "confirms that electric propulsion is viable for large commercial vessels."
