Wednesday - April 18, 2012

Cats Too

First it was Obama eating dogs. Now it’s cats. No, not Obama eating cats, although that would not surprise me but I have no proof and haven’t even heard such a rumor yet. But big cats. Made of steel. Fast ones too. Here ya go, in response to Peiper’s email about some rumor of some giant Chinese catamaran aircraft carrier in the works. Relax, that one is just rumor. For now. But this next one is one bad ass looking boat. Me want!

May 18, 2011 Austal’s largest catamaran built to date, the 113 metre “Leonora Christina”, was recently handed over to her owners, marking completion of construction of the high speed vehicle-passenger ferry at Austal’s Henderson shipyard.

“Leonora Christina” was constructed for Danish company Færgen (formerly Nordic Ferry Services) and is due to depart Austal’s Henderson shipyard for Denmark this week, where it will be operated by Bornholmer Færgen, a subsidiary of Færgen.
...
“After participating in recent sea trials, I am satisfied that “Leonora Christina” has fulfilled its speed requirements, while its proven seakeeping capabilities will ensure maximum passenger comfort throughout the 90 minute journey from Bornholm to Ystad,” said Senior Captain Schow.

Austal Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Bellamy, congratulated employees at Austal’s Henderson shipyard on the completion of “Leonora Christina”, commenting that the vessel will soon be the pride of Bornholmer Færgen’s fleet.

Austal was awarded the contract to build “Leonora Christina” in April 2009, following a competitive international tender process which saw Austal utilise its in-house design team and experience to develop a highly customised vessel design that met all of Færgen’s requirements for the route. “Leonora Christina” has also been built to comply with stringent Danish regulations, covering environmental noise, wave-wash and exhaust emissions, as well as ergonomic working arrangements for the crew and strict fire and safety standards.

Seating for the vessel’s 1,400 passengers is spread over the upper and bridge decks. Ample room and luxury fittings are evident throughout the vessel’s refined, high quality interior, which reflects contemporary Scandinavian design aesthetics. Natural lighting and timber finishing deliver a feeling of light and space throughout the vessel, with large skylights located in the vessel’s atrium completing the look.
...
The vessel’s three vehicle decks offer a total capacity of 300 truck lane metres, or a maximum of 357 cars, which are accessible via both bow and stern ramps, ensuring efficient ‘drive through’ loading and unloading of the vessel, thereby keeping turnaround times to a minimum.

Austal is a ship building company in Perth Australia. The Christina, 112.6m long, 26.2m wide, displacing 10,371 tons looks more like an oversize racing motorboat than a staid ferry. I love the design.

She is currently performing the daily ferry run between Rønne (Bornholm in Denmark) and Ystad in Sweden, barring a few early teething issues. The ferry company operates several other similar but smaller catamaran ships as well. More pics and info at Wiki.

At first there was some concern about the name of the ship, given who Leonora Christina was and what she did and how people feel about that today, but they took a vote and this name one. Or, as they say in Danish, “Navne Dramaet om ny Bornholmer Færgen er slut” (new name drama for Bornholm Ferry is over).

Bornholm’s new fast ferry will be named after King Christian 4’s daughter Leonora Christina. It is common after a vote in which 9,340 people have cast their votes, which ended last Friday. The result of the referendum were published Monday dinner. Over 50 percent of those who voted, voted for Leonora Christina, according to TV2 Bornholm.

Thus the ship painter on the sunny island does not work in this game. For ferry is a short time ago over the place at the shipyard in Australia. And even then was the princess’s name painted on the bow and stern. However, there arose a massive protest from opponents who believed that Leonora Christina’s national traitor because of his marriage to Corfitz Uldfeldt who sat on the Swedish side, since the Peace of Roskilde was signed, and Denmark had to refrain Skåne, Halland, Blekinge and Bornholm.

The vote was printed by the company Bornholm ferry after protests emerged. But now a majority then determined that the ferry’s name must remain as originally proposed.

As far as I know, the Leonora Christina is the largest operational catamaran anywhere. Daewoo is building one nearly 10 times larger, the Pieter Schelte, to work on undersea pipe, but that ship is taking a very long time to get built.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/18/2012 at 11:43 AM   
Filed Under: • planes, trains, tanks, ships, machines, automobiles •  
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