| Bollinger / Incat USA’s 96 metre Wave Piercing Sealift Catamaran Joint Venture (HSV-X1) (050) has notched up yet another first by becoming the first United States flagged high speed vessel to circumnavigate the globe.
On July 4, 2002, crossing longitude 147 18’ E under the command of CW4 William Davis, Army 7th Transportation Group, Joint Venture (HSV X1) has completed a round the world tour since leaving Hobart, Tasmania, on Tuesday September 11, 2001.
Around the world in 297 days, what’s so great about that?
Not just the distance covered, but the places visited and the missions accomplished. The prime focus has been to experiment and utilise the wide, open architecture of the mission deck (vehicle deck in commercial terminology), and evaluate the multi mission aluminium platform capabilities.
Joint Venture, under Joint Forces command left Australian waters, crossed the Pacific, transited the Panama Canal and arrived in Little Creek, Norfolk, Virginia on October 3, 2002.
Four weeks of acceptance and training and off to Newport, Rhode Island. Within weeks, south to the Gulf of Mexico, back to Little Creek then departing on February 5, 2002 for a winter crossing of the Atlantic. The vessel, loaded with military hardware completed the 3600 nautical mile transit, without refuelling, in an impressive five days and 17 hours at an average speed of 27 knots.
From Rota, Spain the craft proceeded into Scandinavia for exercises in the Baltic Sea and off Norway alongside Nato forces.
With Exercise Strong Resolve 02 complete, her bows turned towards the English Channel sailing once again for Rota, Spain where administrative control of the craft was transferred from the US Navy to the US Army for the next stage of her evaluation by the US military.
Moving eastwards, stopping in Crete, Joint Venture passed through the Suez Canal and into the Persian Gulf joining US forces active in the war on terrorism.
Joint Venture, departed the Gulf on June 19, 2002 bound for San Diego on the west coast of America, via Singapore, Marshall Islands and Hawaii, to fulfil her obligations in a US Military joint exercise Millennium Challenge 2002.
Bollinger / Incat USA is proud of its global involvement in the continual extended efforts, on behalf of the US Joint Forces and the commercial civilian high speed vessel market, to the ongoing technology transfer of expertise and education between two such diverse entities. |
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