US NAVY'S - Incat

Economy with a Capital E!
Justin Merrigan
Over the past year soaring oil prices have
forced ship owners to scrutinise their operating
profiles in search of ways to lessen the fuel cost
impact.
High speed ferries have traditionally had large
power packages to provide fast transit speeds.
However, as high speed vessels have grown in
size and technologies advance, so too has an
increase in the flexibility a fast ferry offers.
Incat’s passenger and freight carrying high
speed ferries are a good example of this as
demonstrated in the graph below. On the
Irish Sea, one of Europe’s most competitive
stretches of water, the range of services
varies across a range of Ropax and high
speed vessels. The largest high speed craft
on the 58 nautical miles central corridor, the
HSS, is capable of offering up to five round
trips a day – a frequency it did indeed offer
when first introduced in 1996.
As the graph illustrates, the Incat 112 metre
craft compares favourably over a 24 hour
period with all other vessels, transporting
passengers and cars swiftly and efficiently.
Operation over a 24hr period
Example service: Holyhead to Dublin Bay - 2008
HSS Superferry Incat 112m High Speed Car Ferry
15000
6000
15000
Fuel tonnes per seat
92
180
3750
3000
4170
2000
8000
7500
14068
46
5670
0.0168
0.012
0.006
0.009
32
N/A
Pax
Crew
Cars
Truck Lane Metres
*Figures are approximate and based on potential operation over a 24hr period.
Incat THE Magazine Issue 36 25