Eco cats roar into life
Wightlink, the operators of the ferry service between Portsmouth and Ryde on the Isle of Wight has announced the launch of their new catamaran vessels. The new vessels Wight Ryder l and Wight Ryder ll were officially named in a dedication ceremony.
The two handsome looking craft were designed in the UK by Southampton-based BMT Nigel Gee, and were manufactured in the Phillipines. They were then transported by container ship over the 9,100 mile journey to their final destinations in Portsmouth. They are expected to provide much greater stability during the journeys, with improved berthing capabilities which is expected to be an improvement for customers. These craft represent part of a multi-million pound investment, first announced over a year ago by the operator, for all of the routes across the Solent.
The importance of the new catamaran design, is the state-of-the-art electronic management systems onboard. This sophisticated electronics is going to be responsible for savings of 1.3 millions litres of fuel per annum when in comparison with the current fleet of FastCats. Their ‘green’ credentials are further enhanced by a massive reduction in emissions equivalent to over 3.4 million kg carbon dioxide.
John Burrows, General Manager of Operations at Wightlink welcomed the arrival of the new catamarans by remarking, “The arrival of Wight Ryders I and II means that we are on schedule to replace our existing FastCat fleet with a robust new generation of purpose-built, single-decked catamarans by early autumn.”
Written by catlover on October 20th, 2009 with
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