HSC Incat 046
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| History | |
|---|---|
 Trinidad and Tobago
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| Name: | INCAT 046 |
| Operator: |
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| Route: | Port of Spain - Scarborough |
| Builder: | Incat, Tasmania, Australia |
| Yard number: | 046 |
| Laid down: | 17.2.1997 |
| Launched: | 20.9.1997 |
| Commissioned: | 12.1997 |
| Homeport: | Nassau, Bahamas |
| Identification: |
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| Status: | in active service |
| Notes: | Classification: DnV +1A1 HSLC R1 Car Ferry |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | High-speed craft |
| Displacement: | 5,617 long tons (5,707 t) |
| Length: | 91.3 m (299 ft 6 in) |
| Beam: | 26 m (85 ft 4 in) |
| Draught: | 3.7 m (12 ft 2 in) |
| Ramps: | Stern Ro-Ro loading |
| Propulsion: | 4 × Ruston 20 RK 270 medium-speed diesel engines, 38,000 bhp (28,337 kW) |
| Speed: | 43 knots (80 km/h; 49 mph) |
| Boats & landing craft carried: |
10 × 100-person life rafts, 4 escape slides |
| Capacity: |
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| Crew: | 22 |
HSC INCAT 046 is a wave-piercing catamaran passenger-vehicle ferry. It has operated under various marketing names, including Devil Cat, The Cat, The Lynx, and now T&T Express.
HSC INCAT 046 is a 91-metre vessel built by InCat Australia in Hobart, Tasmania in 1997 as hull 046. She is a sister ship to HSC Express (holder of a Trans-Atlantic speed record), HSC Max Mols and HSC Master Cat, all of which are Incat91 models.
INCAT 046 is constructed from marine grade aluminium alloys. Each water-borne hull is subdivided into multiple watertight compartments connected by an arched bridging structure with a central forward hull above the smooth water line. Each water-borne hull carries two engines which drive water jets mounted on the transom.
Vehicles are stowed in and between both waterborne hulls in a configuration of rising and descending decks which load from a single level transfer bridge at the stern. The main passenger deck is immediately above the vehicle decks and consists of a cafe, gift shop, children's play area and passenger seating lounges, as well as an outside observation deck that runs the width of the ship at the stern. The passenger seating lounges have overhead television monitors which play movies, or television broadcasts, as well as a continuously updated map showing the vessel's GPS coordinates. A smaller secondary passenger deck is located one deck up and has a bar immediately aft of the wheelhouse.
HSC INCAT 046 was constructed for TT-Line and operated across Australia's Bass Strait on the world's longest distance high speed ferry service (marketed as Devil Cat), between Station Pier, Port Melbourne, Victoria to The Esplanade, George Town, Tasmania. Typical service speed was 80 km/h with fares averaging $100 (AUD) one-way in peak season (Dec-Jan) and $92 one-way in shoulder season (Jan-Apr). Weather conditions in the Bass Strait often led to cancellation during storms and heavy seas, with five cancellations in the first ten weeks of operating. The vessel's ride during choppy conditions led to its nickname "Spew Cat". The ship was sold to Bay Ferries after the first season, but during the 2000-2001, 2001–2002 summer peak periods it was charted to again run the George Town–Station Pier route as the Devil Cat.
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Wikipedia