Cat of Many Coats Purrs Towards Italy

Resplendent in her new feline livery Incat’s hull number 045 left Hobart for Italy at 15.00hrs (EST) on April 27.

Trading as Winner, the 86 metre craft will enter service for Tris (Traghetti Isole Sarde) on the Genoa – Palau, Sardinia route. Sailing from mainland Italy at 8.45 am, arriving in Sardinia at 2.15 pm, Winner will return at 3.00 pm with an arrival in Genoa at 8.30 pm. On Mondays the vessel will also call at Porto Vecchio, Corsica.

Amidst much waving of their national flag, Captain Nicola Parascandolo of Tris was joined by members of the Italian community in Tasmania to farewell the ship as she departed on her 20-day delivery voyage.

Speaking as the ship sailed Captain Parascandolo commented; “In Europe there are many shipbuilders but in Tasmania we have found the best in Incat.”

Under the command of Captain Mik Henriksen Winner’s first port of call is Fremantle followed by the Seychelles before sailing on to Genoa via the Suez Canal. Captain Henriksen has spent the past year working in conjunction with US Military crew on HSV-X1 Joint Venture. The 20-day passage will allow Captain Henriksen to work with the Tris Captains Michele Costagliola and Vincenzo Lofaro and their Italian crew, to familiarise them with high speed craft operation, thus ensuring a smooth transition when the ship goes into service.

The departure marks Incat’s second delivery within as many weeks, illustrating Chairman Robert Clifford’s prediction that the high speed ferry industry is on the road to expansion. Just twelve days previously Incat bade farewell to Bay Ferries’ new 98 metre Wave Piercing Catamaran The Cat, for the international route between Yarmouth in Canada and Bar Harbor in the United States.

With the charter of Winner Tris is bringing a new way of thinking to ferry operations in Italy where routes up to 200 nautical miles can be very competitive when operated with fast craft compared with the conventional medium speed tonnage currently operating crossings in excess of eight hours duration. In service Winner will save passengers between 3 and 5 hours per crossing compared against other services.

Well known as the former Royal Australian Navy craft HMAS Jervis Bay, the sleek catamaran has a capacity for up to 900 persons and 200 cars and can travel at speeds of over 40 knots.


INCAT
INCAT