First vessels leave Austal Tasmania

The first vessels to be completed at Austal's Tasmanian shipyard have commenced their 14 day delivery voyage to Hong Kong via the east coast of Australia onboard the liftship "Pantanal"

The two 47.5 m high speed passenger catamarans, built for New World First Ferry (Macau), are scheduled to enter service in October.

Set to join five similar Austal passenger catamarans already in service in the New World First Ferry (NWFF) fleet, the latest ferries, named "New Ferry LXXXVII" and "New Ferry LXXXVIII" will operate at a service speed of 42 knots while carrying 418 passengers.

Austal was awarded the contract in February 2007 to build repeats of its proven design, optimized to meet NWFF's requirements.

Focusing on small to medium size construction, Austal's Tasmanian shipyard was able to facilitate the fast delivery of the small vessel order at a competitive cost while maintaining the highest international quality standards.

With construction currently underway on three 24 m catamaran police boats for the Queensland Police Service, and a workforce which has grown from 40 to more than 120 during the past 12 months, the inaugural delivery signals Austal Tasmania's position as an important member of Austal's global production capacity.

Located in Margate, south of the Tasmanian capital Hobart, the facility was purchased by Austal in February 2007 and has a history of quality aluminum ship construction.

Both vessels are powered by four MTU 16V 4000 M70, each producing 2320 kW and driving Rolls Royce / Kamewa waterjets.

The two vessels are among 16 Austal passenger ferries currently on order for the China / Hong Kong region, nine of which have already been delivered. Upon completion of its latest order, Austal will have delivered 52 vessels to the region.

PRINCIPAL PARTICULARS

Length Overall: 47.5 m

Length Waterline: 43.9 m

Beam Moulded: 11.8 m

Hull Depth Moulded: 3.8 m

Maximum Draft: 1.6 m

Maximum deadweight: 70 tonnes

Passengers: 418

Crew: 8

Fuel (maximum): 20,000 liters

PROPULSION

Engines: 4 x MTU 16V 4000 M70; 2320 kW at 2000 rpm each

Gearboxes: 4 x Reintjes VLJ 930

Waterjets: 4 x Kamewa 63 SII

Service Speed: 42.5 knots

SURVEY

Classification: Det Norske Veritas +1A1 HSLC Passenger R2 EO