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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
The Merchant Shipping (High-Speed Craft) Regulations 2004
High-speed craft, Ferry classes
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 designs become more popular and large hydrofoils and hovercraft are no longer built.
Most high-speed craft serve as passenger ferries, 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In the 1990s there were a variety of builders, but due to HSC high fuel consumption, many shipbuilders have withdrawn from this market so the construction of the largest fast ferries, up to 127 metres, has been consolidated to two Australian companies, Austal of Perth and Incat 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-jets 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:
:
where = 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, Ave ...
*
*
*
; Austal
* Auto Express 86-class ferry
* Hawaii Superferry
*
* , world's largest civilian trimaran
*
*
* (Lake Michigan)
*
*
*
*
; Catamaran Ferries International
* PacifiCat-class ferry
; Dakota Creek Industries
* Passenger-Only Fast Ferry-class ferry
; Empresa Nacional Bazán
* HSC Silvia Ana L
; Fincantieri
* HSC Gotlandia II
* MDV 1200-class fast ferry
; Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding
*
; IHI Corporation
* SSTH Ocean Arrow, SSTH ''Ocean Arrow''
; Incat
* Madiba 1 - operated by falcon Marine
* , one of three similar 112-metre Incat vessels on this route
*
* HSV-2 Swift, HSV-2 ''Swift''
*
*
; Krasnoye Sormovo
* Raketa (hydrofoil)
; 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
* Stena Line's HSS 1500
; Supercat Fast Ferry Corporation, Supercat
* St. Nuriel
* St. Sealthiel
* St. Emmanuel
* St. Uriel
* St. Jhudiel
* St. Braquiel
* St. Camael
* St. Sariel
; Westermoen Hydrofoil
* Stena Line's High-speed Sea Service#HSS 900, HSS 900
See also
* List of HSC ferry routes, List of high-speed craft ferry routes * BGVReferences
External links
The Merchant Shipping (High-Speed Craft) Regulations 2004
High-speed craft, Ferry classes