Ferry Classes - High-Speed Sea Service (Paperback)

Chapters: High-Speed Sea Service. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 37. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: High-speed Sea Service is the name of a class of high-speed craft developed by and originally operated by Stena Line on European international ferry routes. The HSS 1500 have an in-service speed of 40 knots (75 km/h). Several patents were registered to Stena Line in the development of the HSS, and four vessels were ultimately completed during the late 1990s; Stena Explorer, Stena Voyager and Stena Discovery were built to operate around the British Isles with Stena Carisma built for Scandinavian use. The newest of the craft was re-named HSS Discovery after being sold to a ferry company in Venezuela during 2009. Three larger vessels were purchased, each capable of transporting up to 1,500 passengers at a time: Originally two HSS 900 vessels were ordered, the second one was scrapped - whilst being only partially (30%) complete - following bankruptcy of the shipyard. Leaving only one that entered service: Since the start of 2007, two identical 1500 passenger versions remain in operation on routes across the Irish Sea, whilst a smaller, 900 passenger version operates a route across the Kattegat: Up until November 2008, Stena Explorer had been making two return trips to Dublin per day, at a faster advertised speed of 99 minutes. Up until 2006, this had been three return services per day. HSS 1500 Stena Discovery sitting just in front of the Dry Dock at Harland and Wolff ship yard in Belfast, April 2007 HSS 1500 Stena Discovery sitting at a mooring at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, April 2007 HSS 1500 Stena Discovery moored in Belfast, April 2007Stena Discovery was taken off the Hoek van HollandHarwich route on 8 January 2007, with her final in-service trip being the 10:40 ex-H...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=560499