Shipbucket

Benchijigua Express
Austal's largest Trimaran, the Benchijigua Express, was delivered to the European ferry company Fred Olsen in May 2005. It serves the islands of La Gomera and La Palma and the port of Los Cristianos in the south of Tenerife.

The vessel is 126.7m in length overall and 114.8m at water level. It has a beam of 30.4m, a hull depth of 8.2m and a 4m draught. The trimaran registers a deadweight of 1,000t.



The vessel is powered by four diesel engines of MTU Series 8000 (20V), each with 8,200 kW at 1,150 rpm driven, housed in two engine rooms. Each of the two diesels in the rear engine-room drive one Kamewa 125 SII steerable waterjet propulsion from Rolls-Royce. The overall performance of both machines at the front engine room is transferred to a Kamewa 180 BII booster waterjet.She can reach speeds of 42 knots , although her normal service speed is 36 knots .

Up to 1,291 passengers are distributed on two decks. Due to the short crossing time, there are no passenger cabins. For vehicle transport there are 123 car spaces and 450 metres (1,480 ft) of truck lane; the latter can be converted into an additional 218 car spaces. The vehicle deck can be loaded and unloaded in 30 minutes.

Has this or any similar type been pressed into other/emergency service?

Austal, and their main competitor in this area, BAe, has built or is building catamaran or trimaran very high-speed transports/logistic support ships for the USN, RN, RAN, and other navies.

the Hawaiian superferries took part in relief efforts off haiti

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Supreme Commander of the Astrofleets

A most impressive design, well rendered And yes, it would look good developed for military use.

It has been developed for military use.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Indepe ... 28LCS-2%29

"The design for Independence (LCS 2) is based on a high-speed trimaran (Benchijigua Express) hull built by Austal (Henderson, Australia)."

Thanks, and 'shiver me timbers' I had no idea that the LCS2 was based on the same hull