Austal ferries en route to Caribbean
‘Perle Express’ and ‘Liberty’, on their delivery voyage to Guadeloupe
Two 47m high speed catamaran ferries have left Austal’s Henderson, Western Australia, shipyard this week for Guadeloupe, where they will enter service with long-standing Austal customer L’Express des Iles.
Austal was contracted in June 2010 for the design and construction of the two vessels – one vehicle-passenger ferry and one passenger ferry - marking L’Express des Iles’ third contract with Austal since 1997.
The vehicle-passenger ferry, Perle Express, has the capacity for 364 passengers spread over two decks, as well as room for 10 vehicles and extra cargo. The 437-passenger ferry, Liberty, will be operated by SAS Jeans, a subsidiary of L’Express des Iles, and will operate regular services between Guadeloupe and various other islands. Each vessel was customised to cater for the operator’s route requirements, with both able to operate at speeds of up to 32 knots, each powered by two MTU 16V4000 M71 diesel engines driving Kamewa 71 SIII waterjets. Liberty is the first passenger vessel to be registered under the new French Registry - Registre International Français.
L’Express des Iles previously operated the Austal-built fast ferries Opale Express and Jade Express, delivered in 1998, which in 2005 were replaced by the vessels currently in operation Gold Express and Silver Express. The two new vessels will commence operations in October 2011 from Guadeloupe to the Caribbean islands of Marie-Galante, Les Saintes, Dominica and Martinique, where they will provide an important inter-island link for tourism and trade.
Austal CEO, Andrew Bellamy, commented: “Maintaining and supporting existing customer relationships is a core focus of Austal. We are very pleased that a leading commercial operator such as L’Express des Iles has again returned to Austal for new-build ferries, and we hope to continue this relationship well into the future.”
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