Pescara 2004 -Pescara Jet (ship, 1992)- by-RaBoe 01

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

hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

s or

hovercraft A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious Craft (vehicle), craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull ...

, but in the 1990s

catamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...

and

monohull image:monohull.svg, right A monohull is a type of boat having only one hull (watercraft), hull, unlike multihulled boats which can have two or more individual hulls connected to one another. Fundamental concept Among the earliest hulls were simple ...

designs become more popular and large hydrofoils and hovercraft are no longer built. Most high-speed craft serve as passenger

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

, but the largest catamarans and monohulls also carry cars, buses, large trucks and freight. In the 1990s there were a variety of builders, but due to HSC high fuel consumption, many shipbuilders have withdrawn from this market so the construction of the largest fast ferries, up to 127 metres, has been consolidated to two Australian companies,

Austal Austal is an Australian-based global ship building company and defence prime contractor that specialises in the design, construction and support of defence and commercial vessels. Austal's product range includes naval vessels, high-speed passeng ...

of Perth and

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 ...

of Hobart. There is still a wide variety of builders for smaller fast catamaran ferries between 24 and 60 metres. Hulled designs are often powered by

pump-jet A pump-jet, hydrojet, or water jet is a marine system that produces a jet of water for propulsion. The mechanical arrangement may be a ducted propeller (axial-flow pump), a centrifugal pump, or a mixed flow pump which is a combination of both ...

s coupled to medium-speed diesel engines. Hovercraft are usually powered by gas turbines or diesel engines driving

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

s and impellers. The design and safety of high-speed craft is regulated by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention, Chapter 10, High-Speed Craft (HSC) Codes of 1994 and 2000, adopted by the

Maritime Safety Committee The International Maritime Organization (IMO, French: ''Organisation maritime internationale'') is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating shipping. The IMO was established following agreement at a UN conference ...

of the

International Maritime Organization The International Maritime Organization (IMO, French: ''Organisation maritime internationale'') is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating shipping. The IMO was established following agreement at a UN conference ...

(IMO). In accordance with SOLAS Chapter 10 Reg. 1.3, high-speed craft are craft capable of a maximum speed, in metres per second (m/s), equal to or exceeding: :

3.7 \times \triangledown^

where

\triangledown

= volume of displacement in cubic metres corresponding to the design waterline, excluding craft of which the hull is supported clear above the water surface in non-displacement mode by aerodynamic forces generated by ground effect.

HSC examples

;

Alstom Leroux Naval Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...

* * * ;

* Auto Express 86-class ferry *

Hawaii Superferry Hawaii Superferry was a Hawaii-based transportation company that provided passenger and vehicle transportation between Honolulu Harbor on the island of Oahu and Kahului Harbor on Maui. Legal issues over environmental impact statements and prot ...

* * , world's largest civilian

trimaran A trimaran (or double-outrigger) is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (or "floats") which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recreati ...

* * * (Lake Michigan) * * * * ; Catamaran Ferries International *

PacifiCat-class ferry The PacifiCat class of fast ferries was operated from June 1999 to March 2000 by BC Ferries in British Columbia, Canada. Three PacifiCat catamarans - ''Explorer'', ''Discovery'', and ''Voyager'' - were built between 1996 and 2000 as part of a maj ...

; Dakota Creek Industries *

Passenger-Only Fast Ferry-class ferry The Passenger-Only Fast Ferry ferries were built by Dakota Creek Industries in Anacortes, Washington for Washington State Ferries beginning in 1998. They are unique in the system for being propelled by water jets rather than traditional propelle ...

;

Empresa Nacional Bazán Navantia is a Spanish state-owned shipbuilding company, which offers its services to both military and civil sectors. It is the fifth-largest shipbuilder in Europe and the ninth-largest in the world with shipyards around the globe. The heir to ...

HSC Silvia Ana L HSC ''Silvia Ana L'' (marketed as ''Silvia Ana'') was a high-speed ferry owned and operated by Color Line on a route connecting Kristiansand, Norway to Hirtshals, Denmark. She was built in 1996 by Bazans Fernando Shipyard, Cadiz, Spain for t ...

;

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

* HSC Gotlandia II *

MDV 1200-class fast ferry The MDV 1200 class fast ferry is a class of six vessels built by Fincantieri in Italy. Four of these vessels were for Sea Containers, with the other two vessels being for Ocean Bridge Investments. History The MDV1200 craft were built for Ocean ...

; Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding * ;

IHI Corporation , formerly known as , is a Japanese engineering corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan that produces and offers ships, space launch vehicles, aircraft engines, marine diesel engines, gas turbines, gas engines, railway systems, turbochargers ...

* SSTH ''Ocean Arrow'' ;

* Madiba 1 - operated by falcon Marine * , one of three similar 112-metre Incat vessels on this route * * HSV-2 ''Swift'' * * ;

Krasnoye Sormovo Krasnoye Sormovo Shipyard No. 112 named after Andrei Zhdanov (russian: Судостроительное предприятие "Кра́сное Со́рмово" имени А. А. Жданова) is one of the oldest shipbuilding factories ...

Raketa (hydrofoil) Raketa (russian: Раке́та, ''Rocket'') was the first type of hydrofoil boats commercially produced in the Soviet Union. They were manufactured from 1957 until the early 1970s. The chief designer was Rostislav Alexeyev and the project 340 v ...

; Ocean Fast Ferries * OceanJet 1 * OceanJet 2 * OceanJet 3 * OceanJet 5 * OceanJet 6 * OceanJet 7 * OceanJet 8 * OceanJet 88 * OceanJet 888 * OceanJet 188 * OceanJet 288 * OceanJet 9 * OceanJet 10 * OceanJet 11 * OceanJet 12 * OceanJet 15 ;

STX Finland STX Finland Oy, formerly Aker Yards Oy, was a Finnish shipbuilding company operating three shipyards in Finland, in Turku, Helsinki and Rauma, employing some 2,500 people. It was part of STX Europe, a group of international shipbuilding compan ...

Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Ste ...

HSS 1500 HSS 1500 was the name of a model of Stena HSS craft developed and originally operated by Stena Line on European international ferry routes. The vessels were the largest high-speed craft in the world. Several design patents were registered to St ...

; Supercat * St. Nuriel * St. Sealthiel * St. Emmanuel * St. Uriel * St. Jhudiel * St. Braquiel * St. Camael * St. Sariel ; Westermoen Hydrofoil *

's HSS 900

References

External links

The Merchant Shipping (High-Speed Craft) Regulations 2004
Ferry classes

HSC examples

See also

References

External links