Competing with several European shipyards and following other recent projects, Strategic Marine from Australia has secured an order for two newbuild ferrys.
The Triyards Holdings, of which Strategic Marine is a wholly-owned subsidiary, announced that it has clinched contracts wor[ds_preview]th 20.64 million US-$ for the fabrication of two passenger ferries. Pentland Ferries, a Scottish operator, ordered an 85m vehicle passenger ferry. An unnamed Asian operator signed a contract to build a 40m high-speed passenger ferry.
»These latest contract wins are a significant step forward for Strategic in its efforts to build further momentum in this expanding market and are another step forward in its diversification plans«, Strategic Marine said.
The new orders follow on from a number of recent ferry projects for Strategic Marine including, two 70m LNG single fuel aluminium catamaran vehicle passenger ferries for Rederij Doeksen in Holland, one 36m aluminium monohull passenger ferry for Mary D Cruises in New Caledonia, one 26m aluminium catamaran passenger ferry for Buma Group in Indonesia and two 48m aluminium catamaran vehicle passenger ferries for National Ferry Corporation in Oman.
The 85m Vehicle Passenger Ferry is scheduled for delivery during the first half of 2018. It is expected to sail between Gills Bay on the Scottish mainland and St. Margaret’s Hope in the Orkney Islands. According to the shipyard, the vessel can accommodate 98 cars and 430 passengers, what provides a significant capacity increase for »Pentalina«, the ferry which is currently operating on the route.
»Building on the existing strong relationship with BMT Nigel Gee, the designer in Southampton«, the 85m vessel will be the third catamaran vehicle passenger ferry over 70m in length to their design currently being constructed in Strategic Marine’s shipyard in Vietnam. The other two vessels also designed by BMT Nigel Gee are expected to be The Netherlands first single fuel LNG ferries when they are delivered.
The 40m Passenger Ferry is scheduled for delivery in early 2018 and expected to be operating at 32 knots with 418 passengers on board. It will be powered by four main engines driving waterjet propulsion.
This new order will be designed by One2Three Naval Architects, a renowned Sydney-based designer. This collaboration is said to »showcase Strategic Marine’s principle of providing flexible solutions and working with the best external designers« to offer its customers a wider range of optimised vessels.
Mark Schiller, the Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Marine, said: »I am pleased to announce the new orders in the first quarter of 2017 and would like to welcome the new clients into the big family of Strategic Marine vessel owners. These orders add further depth to our ferry portfolio where we are currently receiving strong interest from clients around the world due to the high quality and purpose built vessel solutions that we offer from our yards in Vietnam and Singapore.«
