MV ''Schiopparello Jet'' is a passenger catamaran ferry, formerly known as ''Bo Hengy'' and ''Red Jet 5''. She operates on routes from

Piombino Piombino is an Italian town and ''comune'' of about 35,000 inhabitants in the province of Livorno (Tuscany). It lies on the border between the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, in front of Elba Island and at the northern side of Maremma. Ove ...

to the Tuscan archipelago on behalf of ferry operator

Toremar 240px, ''Rio Marina Bella'' and ''Liburna'' in Livorno Toremar (Toscana Regionale Marittima) is an Italian shipping company which operates in routes from Tuscany to the Tuscan archipelago. On 3 November 2009 the Transport Minister Altero Matte ...

(''Toscana Regionale Marittima''). She was built in 1999. ''Schiopparello Jet'' is a sister ship to ''

Red Jet 3 MV ''Red Jet 3'' is a passenger catamaran ferry formerly operated by Red Funnel on their route from Southampton to Cowes on the Isle of Wight along with sister ships ''Red Jet 4'', '' Red Jet 5'' and ''Red Jet 6''. She was built by Fairley Ma ...

'', a catamaran designed and built by FBM Marine on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

for operation by

Red Funnel Red Funnel, the trading name of the Southampton Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Company Limited,

History

''Bo Hengy''

Built as the ''Bo Hengy'' for Bahamas Ferries, the vessel was constructed at the Pequot River Shipworks in

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decade ...

in 1999. She was retired in 2008. Bahamas Ferries now operates a larger catamaran called ''Bo Hengy II''.

''Red Jet 5''

Following purchase by Red Funnel the vessel was transported to Southampton by

heavy lift ship A heavy-lift ship is a vessel designed to move very large loads that cannot be handled by normal ships. They are of two types: *''Semi-submersible'' ships that take on water ballast to allow the load—usually another vessel—to be floated o ...

arriving 11 June 2009. The vessel was then towed to

Portchester Portchester is a locality and suburb northwest of Portsmouth, England. It is part of the borough of Fareham in Hampshire. Once a small village, Portchester is now a busy part of the expanding conurbation between Portsmouth and Southampton on ...

to be refurbished with an internal layout based on ''Red Jet 4''. The work was carried out by Testbank along with Coastal and Burgess Marine. The ship was officially named ''Red Jet 5'' by

Shirley Robertson Shirley Ann Robertson, OBE DL (born 15 July 1968) is a British sailor and Olympic gold medallist. She made it into the history books by becoming the first British woman to win an Olympic gold medal at consecutive games, Sydney 2 ...

on 21 July 2009, entering service about a week later as a replacement for '' Red Jet 1'' and '' Red Jet 2'', working alongside her sister ship ''Red Jet 3'' and half-sister ''

Red Jet 4 MV ''Red Jet 4'' is a passenger catamaran ferry operated by Red Funnel on their route from Southampton to Cowes on the Isle of Wight, along with sister ships ''Red Jet 6 and Red Jet 7.'' She was built by North West Bay Ships in Hobart, Tasman ...

''. During the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, ''Red Jet 5'' was chartered to

Thames Clippers Thames Clippers (since July 2020 branded as Uber Boat by Thames Clippers for sponsorship purposes with Uber) is a river bus service on the Thames in London, England. The company operates both commuter services between eastern and Central Lon ...

for use as a games shuttle on the Thames. In 2015, Red Funnel announced that she would be replaced by a new ship, ''

Red Jet 6 MV ''Red Jet 6'' is a high-speed Catamaran ferry constructed for Red Funnel in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight as the sixth member of the company's expansive ''Red Jet'' line of catamarans. Red Funnel announced in May 2015 that they had placed ...

'', to be constructed at

East Cowes East Cowes is a town and civil parish in the north of the Isle of Wight, on the east bank of the River Medina, next to its west bank neighbour Cowes. The two towns are connected by the Cowes Floating Bridge, a chain ferry operated by the Isle ...

. Once the latter was brought into service in summer 2016, ''Red Jet 5'' was retired and sold.

''Schiopparello Jet''

The vessel was sold to

and renamed ''Schiopparello Jet''. She is used on services from

, on the Tuscan mainland, to

Portoferraio Portoferraio () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Livorno, on the edge of the eponymous harbour of the island of Elba. It is the island's largest city. Because of its terrain, many of its buildings are situated on the slopes of a tiny h ...

, on the island of Elba. Services operate via

Cavo Cavo is an American hard rock band from St. Louis, Missouri. Because of their sound and musical influences, they are sometimes classified as post-grunge. Band history In late 2000, guitarist Chris Hobbs, bassist Ryan Kemp, and drummer Chad ...

, also on the island of Elba.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schiopparello Jet Ferries of England Ferries of Italy Ferries of the Bahamas Individual catamarans 1999 ships Ships of Red Funnel Ferry transport on the Isle of Wight