HSC HSS Discovery
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''HSS Discovery'' was a
high-speed ferry 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 popul ...
owned by Albamar Shipping Company. It is a member of the
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 ...
class of high-speed ferries built for and designed by
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 ...
from 1996 onwards. The vessel was previously named ''Stena Discovery'' and operated for Stena Line between
Harwich International Port Harwich International Port is a North Sea seaport in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports. It lies on the south bank of the River Stour one mile upstream from the town of Harwich, opposite the Port of Felixstowe. The port was formerly kn ...
in the United Kingdom and
Hook of Holland Hook of Holland ( nl, Hoek van Holland, ) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was the word in use before the word ''kaap'' – "cape", from Portuguese ''cabo'' – became Dutch. The English t ...
, the Netherlands.


Design and construction

The ''HSS Discovery'' was constructed by
Finnyards 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 companie ...
in
Rauma, Finland Rauma (; sv, Raumo) is a town and municipality of around () inhabitants on the west coast of Finland, north of Turku, and south of Pori. Its neighbouring municipalities are Eura, Eurajoki, Laitila and Pyhäranta. Granted town privileges on 17 ...
. Construction commenced in 1996 and the vessel entered service in April 1997. The vessel was a
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 was designed with the aim of providing a comfortable and fast service. Power was provided by four
GE Aviation GE Aviation, a subsidiary of General Electric, is headquartered in Evendale, Ohio, outside Cincinnati. GE Aviation is among the top aircraft engine suppliers, and offers engines for the majority of commercial aircraft. GE Aviation is part of the ...
gas turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directi ...
s in a twin combined gas and gas (
COGAG Combined gas turbine and gas turbine (COGAG) is a type of propulsion system for ships using two gas turbines connected to a single propeller shaft. A gearbox and clutches allow either of the turbines to drive the shaft or both of them combined. ...
) configuration. The vessel employed four
Kamewa AB Karlstads Mekaniska Werkstad (''trans.'' Karlstad Mechanical Works Ltd), known as Kamewa, was a Swedish manufacturing company in the city of Kristinehamn. Kamewa started as a brand name of the controllable-pitch propellers manufactured by KMW ...
waterjets for propulsion. The HSS class of ferries were designed to allow quick turnarounds at port. A specially designed
linkspan A linkspan or link-span is a type of drawbridge used mainly in the operation of moving vehicles on and off a roll-on/roll-off (RO-RO) vessel or ferry, particularly to allow for tidal changes in water level. Linkspans are usually found at ferry t ...
provides ropeless mooring and allows quick loading, unloading and servicing. Vehicles were loaded via two of the four stern doors and parked in a "U" configuration. When disembarking, vehicles drove straight off via the other three doors.


Career

As the ''Stena Discovery'', the vessel operated between Harwich and Hook of Holland for Stena Line from its introduction in 1997 until January 2007 when it was taken out of service due to its high fuel consumption. The vessel was laid up at Belfast between January 2007 and September 2009, before departing for
La Guaira La Guaira () is the capital city of the Venezuelan state of the same name (formerly named Vargas) and the country's main port. It was founded in 1577 as an outlet for Caracas, to the southeast. The town and the port were badly damaged during ...
,
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
under the ownership of Albamar Shipping Company. Prior to its departure from Belfast, the "Stena" prefix was removed from the vessel's name. It served only briefly in Venezuela and was taken out of service again in 2009. In November 2011, it was moved to the Caribbean island of
Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...
in an attempt to attract investors for a new ferry service from Curaçao to La Guaira. It was subject to a criminal investigation shortly afterwards regarding irregulatory trade of diesel from the ballast tanks. She was scrapped in
Aliağa Aliağa is a town and a district of Izmir Province in the Aegean Region of Turkey. The town is situated at about north of Izmir. Aliağa has a large port, mainly for oil and bulk cargo. Its economic activity is based on tourism, shipbreaking, ...
,
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
between August and November 2015.


Incidents

*In January 1998, ''Stena Discovery'' was travelling at full speed when it hit a 3.5m swell, resulting in water being pushed up over the nose and hitting the bridge windows. The swell ripped through the underside of the nose. It was later discovered that this was beyond ''Stena Discoverys design capability. Small air holes were fitted on the underside of the nose to prevent a repeat incident. * In March 2001, the driver of an 18 tonne lorry (loaded with 12 tonnes of fresh fish) failed to put his vehicle's handbrake on during a crossing of the ''Stena Discovery'' from Hook of Holland to Harwich. As the ferry accelerated, the lorry rolled back, crashed through the vessel's stern doors, and plunged into the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
. It took along with it three smaller vans as well as one of the stern doors. The vessel returned to Hook of Holland and was taken out of service for repairs. Damage to the door and loss of the vehicles was estimated to be in the region of £200,000. Image:HSS Discovery front.jpg, After the 1998 incident, 'shark fin' covered air holes were fitted on the underside of the nose. Image:Waterjet on HSS Discovery.jpg, One of the four Kamewa waterjets. Image:HSS Discovery backside.jpg, Laid up in Curaçao. The dirt on the back is
soot Soot ( ) is a mass of impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. It is more properly restricted to the product of the gas-phase combustion process but is commonly extended to include the residual pyrolysed ...
from the diesel generators. Image:Stena Discovery in Musgrave Channel - geograph.org.uk - 394998.jpg, Laid up in Belfast, April 2007. Image:Hoek_van_holland_stena_line.jpg, Glory days: mooring at Hook of Holland on return from Harwich (2005). Image:HSS Discovery in Curacao.jpg, Inactive, in the
Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
in Curaçao.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:HSS Discovery Ships built in Rauma, Finland 1996 ships High-speed craft
Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...