HSC ''Sea Speed Jet'' is a high speed catamaran ferry built 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 ...

for

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 SeaCo ...

in 1990. It has been owned by Sea and Sun Maritime Co. since 2014. The vessel is currently operated by Seajets. ''Sea Speed Jet'' was the first 74-metre wave piercing catamaran built and the first car carrying catamaran built by Incat.

History

''Sea Speed Jet'' was launched as ''SeaCat Tasmania'' in October 1990. The vessel's first spell in service was on charter to Tasmanian Ferry Services and was deployed on the route between Port Welshpool and George Town until 1992 when the vessel moved to the English Channel operating between

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

and

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

and also

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

and

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

for Hoverspeed. In the same year the vessel moved back to Tasmanian Ferry Services where it spent seven months on charter before returning to the Channel in mid-1993 and being renamed ''SeaCat Calais''. The vessel then went on a five-year charter to Ferry Lineas Argentinas operating between

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

and

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. The vessel was renamed to ''Atlantic II''. In 1998 the vessel returned the Channel again (as ''Atlantic II'') and it was deployed on the Dover to Calais route. In May 2000 the vessel was renamed ''Croazia Jet'' and operated for SNAV between Ancona and Split. Just over a year later the vessel was laid up for around six months before making its third return to the Channel. It was renamed ''SeaCat France'' the vessel was once again deployed on the Dover to Calais route. In 2005 the vessel was chartered to Emeraude Ferries - being renamed ''Emeraude France''. The vessel was deployed between St Malo and Jersey for two months before the charter ended and the vessel was laid up in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

until 2007 when it was sold to Maritime Charter Sales Ltd and chartered to the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company to cover for sister vessel ''Sea Express 1'' which had been damaged in an accident on the River Mersey. ''Emeraude France'' spent six months on charter to the Steam Packet Company and provided a reliable service during the Centenary of the Isle of Man TT in 2007 operating mainly on the Douglas to Dublin and Belfast routes and occasionally serving Liverpool and Heysham. She also covered the special excursion cruises. In September 2007 the vessel's charter ended and ''Emeraude France'' moved to

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancie ...

for lay up until it was acquired by Sea and Sun Maritime Co. in 2014 and renamed ''Superfast Cat''. It was later renamed ''Sea Speed Jet'' and entered service with Seajets.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sea Speed Jet Ships of Seajets Ships built by Incat Incat high-speed craft 1990 ships