HSC Lake Express
Lake Express at Muskegon
|
|
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | 2004 onwards: Lake Express |
| Operator: | 2004 onwards: Lake Express |
| Port of registry: | 2004 onwards: Milwaukee 
|
| Route: | Milwaukee - Muskegon |
| Builder: | Austal USA, Mobile |
| Yard number: | US 614 |
| Identification: | IMO number: 9329253 |
| Status: | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 1,757 GT |
| Length: | 191 ft 7 in (58.40 m) |
| Beam: | 57 ft 9 in (17.60 m) |
| Draught: | 8 ft 2 in (2.50 m) |
| Installed power: | 4 × MTU 16V 4000 M70 diesel engines |
| Propulsion: | 4 × Kamewa waterjets |
| Speed: | 34 kn (39 mph; 63 km/h) |
| Capacity: |
|
Lake Express is a high-speed auto and passenger ferry that is in service on a route across Lake Michigan. Lake Express links the cities of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Muskegon, Michigan, from late spring to the fall of each year.
The ship travels at a top speed of 34 knots (39 mph; 63 km/h) and makes the 68-nautical-mile (78 mi; 126 km) trip three times daily from each side of the lake during the peak of its operational schedule. Lake Express is able to cross the lake in two and a half hours. It was constructed by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama, and began service on June 1, 2004. It was one of the first high-speed catamaran-style auto/passenger ferries built in the United States. It was also the first high-speed car ferry to see service on the Great Lakes, beating out the Spirit of Ontario I, which was beset by a series of last-minute delays, by one month.
On August 21, 2005, the ferry rescued a man whose boat had capsized in the middle of Lake Michigan.
Terminal in Milwaukee Harbor
En route to Muskegon, Milwaukee fades away at the horizon
Lake express visible from airplane
John Kerry and Teresa Heinz on the Lake express during the 2004 presidential campaign
...
Wikipedia