High Speed Jet Fast Facts
| Current Name: High Speed Jet | Previous Names: COSMOS JET, SEA RUNNER, SPEED RUNNER 1, EMERAUDE GB, HOVERSPEED GREAT BRITAIN, CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS |
| Shipyard: InCat Tasmania Pty Ltd., Hobart [AU] 25, | IMO Number: 8900000 |
| Current Operator: Seajets (last known operator) | Current Route: Out of service |
| Length Overall: | Beam: |
| Passenger Capacity: 450 | Vehicle Capacity: 85 cars |
| Tonnage: | Sister-ships: Hoverspeed France/Seacat Boulogne, Hoverspeed Belgium/Boulogne/Seacat Danmark, Seacat Tasmania/France/Calais, Seacat Scotland |
The first of Hoverspeed’s 74m “Seacat” car carrying catamarans was built by International Catamarans (InCat) in Australia was launched as Christopher Columbus on January 28th 1991. Despite being hull number 25, she was launched some months before hull 23 (Seacat Tasmania, later Seacat Calais/Seacat France). All 5 of these vessels
After
Hoverspeed Great Britain commenced service on the 14th of August 1990 between Portsmouth and Cherbourg, but was plagued with technical issues being the first of her class in service. During her delivery voyage she had captured the Hales Blue Riband trophy for the fastest crossing of the North Atlantic (Eastbound). This had previously been held by the SS United States for some 38 years.
In November 1990 Hoverspeed Great Britain made publicity sailings to the Isle of Man and Heysham, before entering service between Dover and Calais/Boulogne. After a final sailing between Portsmouth and Cherbourg on 8th January 1991, she proceeded for refit at Cherbourg.
Hoverspeed Great Britain re-entered service on July 20th 1991, a month later than had projected, between Dover and Calais/Boulogne.
Between December 1992 and March 1993 she was chartered to Ferrylineas Argentinas S.A. for service between Buenos Aries and Colonia, before returning to the UK to operate between Belfast and Stranraer.
November 1993 saw a return to the Dover to Calais and Boulogne services until March 1994, when Hoverspeed Great Britain operated from Folkestone to Calais. In 1995 she returned back to the Dover to Calais service until March, when she resumed services between Folkestone and Boulogne.
March 2001 saw Hoverspeed Great Britain return to Belfast, this time operating to Heysham in place of Seacat Denmark which had operated the service the previous year. However, Hoverspeed Great Britain returned again to the Dover to Calais route the following year having been replaced on the Heysham link by the larger Seacat Rapide (by now the Folkestone to Boulogne route had been closed), before layup in 2003.
From 2004 to 2005, Hoverspeed Great Britain was chartered out to French operator Emeraude (renamed Emeraude GB) for services to the Channel Islands. Early 2005 saw a further charter, this time to the Greek operator Aegean Speedlines and a renaming to Speedrunner I. During 2008 Speedrunner I was purchased by Alpha Ferries (also of Greece) who renamed her Sea Runner. They used her to operate between Santori and Crete., however, in 2010 the vessel was arrested.
A further Greek operator, Seajets, took over the craft in 2011 and renamed her Cosmos Jet. Her service between Heraklion, Agios Nilkolaos, and Santori would last little over a month before Cosmos Jet was laid up in Heraklion with engine problems. She was towed later that month to Keratsini for further layup.
After a career spanning over 2 decades, it has been reported that the former Hoverspeed Great Britain is still laid up in Greece (Chalkis Shipyard, Evia Island) and out of class. Her registered owner changed in June 2015 to Kalan Shipping (another Greek company) according to IHS Maritime, when she was renamed
Reports from Greece suggest that she has been used as a source of spare parts for the rest of the Seajets catamaran fleet since becoming
As she has not been in service for some years now, it looks unlikely that the oldest of the Hoverspeed SeaCat’s will ever carry passengers or cars again.
Technical Data
|
Current Name |
HIGH SPEED JET |
|---|---|
|
IMO Number |
8900000 |
|
Design |
InCat |
|
Building Yard |
InCat Tasmania Pty Ltd., Hobart, Tasmania |
|
Hull Number |
25 |
|
Year Completed |
1990 Launched 28/1/1990 with sea trials following that April. |
|
Owner (in NI Service) |
Sea Containers |
|
Operator (in NI Service) |
Sea Containers Ferries (Scotland) |
|
Classification |
Det Norske Veritas – DNV +1A1 HSLC R1 Car Ferry “A” EO NAUT B |
|
In service (original) |
14/07/1990 |
|
Call sign (in UK service) |
C6IW4 |
|
Length overall |
73.6m |
|
Beam |
26m |
|
Draft |
3.1m |
|
Gross Tonnage |
3003 |
|
Construction |
Design – Two slender, aluminium hulls connected by two main bridging beams and intermediate transverse sections with centre bow structure at fwd end.Subdivision – Each hull is divided into vented watertight compartments divided by transverse bulkheads. One compartment in each hull prepared as short-range fuel tanks and one as a long-range fuel tank.Fabrication – Welded aluminium construction using longitudinal stiffeners supported by transverse web frames and bulkheads. |
|
Machinery |
Main Engines – 4 x resiliently mounted Ruston 16RK270 marine diesel engines at 4050 kW each.Water Jets – 4 x Lips LJ115DX. Two waterjets configured for steering and reverse.Transmission – direct drive.Ride Control – A ‘Maritime Dynamics’ active ride control system is fitted to maximise passenger comfort. The system combines active trim tabs aft and optional T-foil with active fins located at the forward end of each hull.Alternator – 4 x Caterpillar 3306 142kw (nominal) marine, brushless, self- excited alternators |
|
Power(Max) |
16,200kW |
|
Speed (Max/Operational) |
42/36kts |
|
Capacity |
450 passengers and 84 cars. |
|
Cargo Access |
Bow door/visor and stern doors leading directly onto the car deck |
|
Flag (whilst serving NI) |
The Bahamas (Nassau), UK (Folkestone) 1997 onwards. |
Photographs
