HSC ''Jaume II'' is a
high speed catamaran built in 1996 by
Incat
Incat Tasmania is an Australian manufacturer of high-speed craft (HSC) catamaran ferries. Its greatest success has been with large, sea going passenger and vehicle ferries, but it has also built military transports and since 2015 it has built s ...
in Tasmania, Australia.
History
''Jaume II'' was built in 1996 as ''Condor 12''. For her first season she operated alongside Condor 10 on
Condor Ferries
Condor Ferries is an operator of passenger and freight ferry services between The United Kingdom, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Bailiwick of Jersey and France.
Corporate history
Condor Ferries established the first high-speed car ferry service to ...
Channel Island services. In 1997 the vessel became ''Holyman Rapide'' and operated on the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
. When
Hoverspeed
Hoverspeed was a ferry company that operated on the English Channel from 1981 until 2005. It was formed in 1981 by the merger of Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd. Its last owners were Sea Containers; the company ran a small fleet of two high-speed Sea ...
bought the
Holyman
Holyman was an Australian company that operated cargo ships and ferries in Australia and other countries. The company had three divisions; Domestic shipping and transport services, Ferries and Bulk commodity handling.
The company was founded ...
, the ''Holyman Rapide'' became known as ''Rapide'' and transferred to Hoverspeed's English Channel Routes.
In March 2001 ''Rapide'' moved up from the English Channel to
Sea Containers
Sea Containers was a Bermudan registered company which operated two main business areas: transport and container leasing. It filed for bankruptcy on 16 October 2006. In 2009 its maritime container interests were transferred to a new company SeaC ...
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...
services between
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and
Douglas
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
* Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
*Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...
.
For March 2002 the ''Rapide'' was deployed between
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
and
Heysham
Heysham ( ) is a coastal town in Lancashire, England, overlooking Morecambe Bay. It is a ferry port, with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland, and the site of two nuclear power stations.
Demography
Administratively, Heysham is part of th ...
and services to/from the Isle of Man, until a disastrous fire on Wednesday 21 August 2002 on the 0700 service. A fire was reported in the Port Engine room at 0800. The vessel was forced to turn back to Belfast and passengers were offered alternative travel arrangements. The service never reopened after that date.
The ''Rapide'' lay alongside the lay-up berth in Belfast before finally getting repaired by March 2003. With
''Seacat Scotland'' moving to the English Channel in November 2002, this meant the
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
to
Troon
Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport.
Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O Ferrie ...
route needed a vessel, as it had been operated by
''SeaCat Isle of Man'', which needed to return to her Manx services.
On Monday 1 November 2004 ''Rapide'' had completed the Belfast to Troon service with the 1545 sailing ex Belfast returning from Troon at 1930, she also occasionally covered Manx routes. Finally, the ''Rapide'' left Belfast for the final time on Monday 8 November 2004 at 1620, bound for Sunderland.
For 2005 ''Rapide'' was deployed, as ''Seacat Rapide'', between Dover and Calais for
Hoverspeed
Hoverspeed was a ferry company that operated on the English Channel from 1981 until 2005. It was formed in 1981 by the merger of Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd. Its last owners were Sea Containers; the company ran a small fleet of two high-speed Sea ...
, however as the Company closed on Monday 7 November 2005 the Rapide was laid up at Tilbury.
In June 2006 ''Rapide'' left the channel probably for the last time bound for a new career in the Mediterranean with the Spanish shipping company
Baleària
Baleària is the trading name for the Spanish shipping company Baleària Eurolíneas Marítimas S.A. The company operates passenger ferry services in the Mediterranean and Caribbean.
Routes
In the Mediterranean region, Baleària operates dom ...
, renamed ''Jaume II''.
In February 2016 four new main engines were fitted at the Astilleros del Guadalquivir shipyard in
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
, to reduce fuel consumption and
NOx
In atmospheric chemistry, is shorthand for nitric oxide () and nitrogen dioxide (), the nitrogen oxides that are most relevant for air pollution.
These gases contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain, as well as affecting tropo ...
emissions and to increase speed. At the same time the interior areas of the ship were upgraded and modernised.
, ''Jaume II'' operates as a high speed ferry between
Fort Lauderdale
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
, Florida, US, and
Grand Bahama
Grand Bahama is the northernmost of the islands of the Bahamas, with the town of West End located east of Palm Beach, Florida. It is the third largest island in the Bahamas island chain of approximately 700 islands and 2,400 cays. The island is ...
and
Bimini
Bimini is the westernmost district of the Bahamas and comprises a chain of islands located about due east of Miami. Bimini is the closest point in the Bahamas to the mainland United States and approximately west-northwest of Nassau. The popula ...
in the Bahamas.
See also
*
SeaCat Seacat may refer to:
* Seacat missile, a short-range surface-to-air missile system
* SeaCat (1992–2004), ferry company formerly operating from between Northern Ireland, Scotland and England
* The Sea-Cat, an imaginary monster from Flann O'Brien' ...
*
Incat
Incat Tasmania is an Australian manufacturer of high-speed craft (HSC) catamaran ferries. Its greatest success has been with large, sea going passenger and vehicle ferries, but it has also built military transports and since 2015 it has built s ...
*
High-speed craft
A high-speed craft (HSC) is a high-speed water vessel for civilian use, also called a fastcraft or fast ferry.
The first high-speed craft were often hydrofoils or hovercraft, but in the 1990s catamaran and monohull designs become more po ...
External links
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaume Ii
Ferries of Spain
Ships built by Incat
Incat high-speed craft
1996 ships