Austal High-Speed Ferries Impress at Sea Trials

The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago’s 41 meter Austal-designed and built high speed passenger ferries have achieved outstanding performance on recent sea trials.

Designed to carry 405 passengers at speeds of more than 37 knots, the aluminum vessels are intended to help reduce road congestion in Trinidad and Tobago by establishing a water taxi service between San Fernando and Port of Spain in southwest Trinidad.

All four ferries achieved a trial speed above the contract requirement during recent sea trials.

Passenger seating onboard each vessel is split over two levels, with the main passenger deck featuring four passenger entry points, a central kiosk and dedicated baggage compartment and bike racks. The vessels are powered by four MTU 16V2000 M72 engines driving Kamewa waterjets and are fitted with Austal Ride Control to ensure passenger comfort.

When fully operational the water taxi service is expected to facilitate the transport over 7500 passengers in a normal working day and will be integrated with other transport systems.

With a combined capacity of 1620 passengers, the four Austal high speed catamarans will reduce travel times between North and South Trinidad by almost one quarter.

The vessels are being constructed at Austal’s Australian facilities and will be transported to Trinidad and Tobago via heavy lift ships in coming months.

Source: Austal

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